Courts / Cork / Report

Murdered student blocked doorway from knife-wielding teens, trial hears

Date
2021-06-08

Stage
Trial

Primary locality
Cork City

County
Cork

Summary

In a Cork city house‑party murder trial, a 20‑year‑old chemical engineering student, Cameron Blair, was stabbed in the neck and later died at Cork University Hospital. Witness testimony before the Central Criminal Court described two teenage boys, aged 14 and 16, who were present outside the house with knives. The 16‑year‑old, whose name is withheld because he is a minor, is charged with producing a knife at the Bandon Road house on 16 January 2020. He has pleaded not guilty to producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury. Two other boys in the group have pleaded guilty to murder and violent disorder, and the State alleges all three had knives that night. The trial, presided over by Justice David Keane, continues tomorrow with a jury of eight men and four women. The case focuses on whether the accused produced a knife capable of serious injury during the dispute that led to Blair's death.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Murdered student blocked doorway from knife-wielding teens, trial hears. Charges or matters: the production of a knife at a house on Bandon Road in Cork city on January 16, 2020; producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury in the course of a dispute, to wit a knife, in a manner likely to unlawfully intimidate another person. Procedural stage: trial

When:

January 16, 2020 Incident
2021-06-08 Publication

Why: The accused, who was 14 at the time of the incident and cannot be named because he is a minor, has pleaded not guilty to producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury in the course of a dispute, to wit a knife, in a manner likely to unlawfully intimidate another person. CNI source report

Case subjects

Unnamed 16-year-old

Accused

Charges: the production of a knife at a house on Bandon Road in Cork city on January 16, 2020; producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury in the course of a dispute, to wit a knife, in a manner likely to unlawfully intimidate another person (Alleged Or Contested)

Plea: Not guilty