Dublin man stabbed to death weeks before child's birth
Eoin Reynolds
A Dublin man died from a stab wound to the neck less than two months before his partner gave birth to their child, the Central Criminal Court heard on Friday.
Natanya Comerford also told the trial of Joseph Lawlor (39), who denies murdering the witness's 51-year-old partner of 15 years, Michael Ryan, that the deceased had lost his mother to cancer six weeks before his death.
She said Lawlor knew about the death of Ryan's mother and said the deceased was spending time with the accused to "blow off steam".
Under cross-examination, Comerford said she had never heard of Ryan selling sleeping tablets, but said he was taking a prescribed dose of Zopiclone to help him sleep.
Cash to the tune of about €4,000 in Ryan's gym bag, which gardaí found close to where he died, was from a loan for home improvements, she said.
When defence counsel Seamus Clarke SC asked if the deceased had been carrying such a large sum of money around "the whole time", she replied: "He was an eejit, I know."
Joseph Lawlor, of Hampton Wood Road in Finglas, Dublin 11, has pleaded not guilty to Ryan's murder in a carpark to the back of the accused man's home on June 20th, 2024.
The jury has previously heard that Lawlor and Ryan were drinking together in the accused man's home throughout the day and had their first physical altercation at 8.30pm.
Following a second altercation just after 9.30pm, Ryan left in his car but was arrested almost immediately for drink driving. Having been processed and released from custody, Ryan returned to Lawlor's home, where the fatal encounter happened.
Comerford told prosecutor Kevin White SC that Ryan hadn't seen Lawlor for some years, but they reconnected the previous Christmas. After Ryan's mother died, he spent time drinking and playing cards with Lawlor to "blow off steam".
She last saw him on Monday, five days before his death. He had been due to come home on Wednesday for a steak dinner, but did not show up.
Just after midnight on Saturday, shortly before the fatal stabbing, Ryan called her and told her: "That Joey fella is after ringing the police on me." She said he blamed Lawlor for his drunk driving arrest and sounded "annoyed and disappointed".
He told her he was coming home, but he was first going to Lawlor's house to retrieve his watch. She identified a silver watch with a blue face that gardaí found at Lawlor's home as belonging to Ryan.
Comerford said she had received a loan of €10,000 from AIB to buy a car and fix up their back garden. She had given some of the money to Rya,n who was in charge of organising the improvements.
Under cross-examination, Clarke put it to Comerford that the deceased was selling sleeping tablets. "No, Michael was taking sleeping tablets," she said.
Clarke suggested that the €4,000 in the gym bag was generated by Lawlor and Ryan selling sleeping tablets. "That's the first I've heard about that," she said.
The trial continues on Monday before Judge Patrick McGrath and a jury.
