Mark Crawford went on trial for Limerick bar murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Mark Crawford went on trial for murder at the Central Criminal Court on 1 September 2020. He is accused of killing Patrick O’Connor at Fitzgerald’s Bar on Sexton Street, Limerick, between 7 and 8 July 2018, and has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution alleges that Mr Crawford stabbed Mr O’Connor after a dispute linked to payment for cocaine. Evidence is expected to include an account that Mr Crawford admitted stabbing Mr O’Connor to gardaí but claimed self-defence. The trial, before Ms Justice Tara Burns, was expected to last two weeks.