Court hears how Cat Stevens row allegedly led to stabbing

Wednesday 01 March 2017

The jury in an attempted murder trial today heard how a row over a Cat Stevens song allegedly led to a stabbing.

Gerard Eamon Maguire (49) is accused of attempting to murder Shaun Patrick Howard (63), a charge he denies.

Today, Crown Advocate David Steenson opened the case for the prosecution in the Royal Court. 

He said that in the early hours of 30^th October, an altercation – allegedly linked to a dispute over the authorship of a Cat Stevens song – saw Mr Maguire launch at Mr Howard, using Mr Howard’s own knife to stab him in the neck.

In an animated account to the jury, Mr Howard related how Mr Maguire became “ever more loud and aggressive” the more he drank – allegedly around “14 or 15 cans of cider” and the “majority” of a one-litre bottle of vodka, which, at times, he mixed with the cider.

The Court heard that the defendant would talk, "...more and more about fighting and killing" and at, at one point, started "talking about violence" with "two imaginary characters."

"I could see a red flag because his mannerism was getting more and more violent, basically," Mr Howard said.

In a scene acted out using his inhaler, Mr Howard recounted how Mr Maguire used two hands to stab the knife into the left-hand side of his neck. 

He said he subsequently left the flat to seek help for his wound. By the time he was treated by paramedics, Mr Howard had lost up to a litre of blood.

The trial continues this afternoon.