Murder trial hears James O’Brien had been charged with assault causing harm

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

The Central Criminal Court heard on 17 October 2016 that James O’Brien had been charged with assault causing harm. The proceedings were reported on 17 October 2016.

Dale Creighton, a 20-year-old from Tallaght, was assaulted on 1 January 2014 at the footbridge over the Tallaght bypass between Saint Dominic’s Road and Greenhills Road. He died in hospital on 2 January 2014.

Aisling Burke, David Burke, Graham Palmer, Ross Callery, James Reid, Jason Beresford and Gerard Stevens were on trial for murder. All seven had pleaded not guilty to murder. Each initially pleaded not guilty to violent disorder at the footbridge. Jason Beresford later pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Garda David Morris testified that he arrested Jason Beresford on 4 January 2014. Under cross-examination by defence barrister Mícheál O’Higgins SC, he agreed that Jason Beresford arrived after CCTV showed James O’Brien arriving in a car, getting out and giving Dale Creighton nine punches and kicks.

In interviews described in the report, Jason Beresford initially claimed he had been at home before acknowledging that account was a lie. He said he had been told Dale Creighton was involved in robbing Aisling Burke. He admitted kicking Dale Creighton in the head and punching him in the stomach, but denied stamping on him. He said he was drunk and furious, had not seen the full incident and did not realise how badly injured Dale Creighton was.

Garda David Morris agreed under defence cross-examination that Jason Beresford had shown remorse and broken down in his final interview. Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy told the jury that a legal issue needed to be addressed in its absence and asked it to return on Wednesday.