Jury hear conflicting accounts of alleged stabbing during attempted murder trial

Thursday 02 March 2017

A jury has heard differing accounts of how the victim of an alleged stabbing by a friend received his “life-threatening” neck injury during the second day of an attempted murder trial today.

Gerard Eamon Maguire (49) is accused of attempting to murder his friend of around seven years, Shaun Patrick Howard (63). He pleads not guilty to the charge.

Yesterday, the Court heard allegations from Mr Howard that in the early hours of 30th October, an altercation saw Mr Maguire launch at Mr Howard, using Mr Howard’s own knife to stab him in the neck.

But in his cross-examination of Mr Howard this morning, Advocate Paul Nicholls, defending, described Mr Howard's version of events as "utterly inconceivable".

Advocate Nicholls argued that Mr Howard had, "...flipped... over a stupid, drunken disagreement over a Cat Stevens song", which was allegedly aggravated by Mr Maguire's attempts to leave with a bottle of vodka.

Drawing attention to Mr Howard's previous offences, Advocate Nicholls claimed that Mr Howard himself was the aggressor, and threw a glass at Mr Maguire before he, "...aggressively grabbed [Mr Maguire's] hand with the knife, and used your hand to push that knife into his face."

He showed the jury a photo of an injury to Mr Maguire's left eye, which a doctor said was, "consistent with the effects of sharp force trauma". But Mr Howard remained adamant that the wound was the result of either Mr Maguire hitting the doorframe after he had punched him in self-defence or done by Mr Maguire himself.

"He might have done it when he got home, he might have inflicted it himself... People do things like that," Mr Howard said, as Advocate Nicholls shook his head at the suggestion.

In later questioning of Dr Virginia French, who saw Mr Howard at A&E, it emerged that a circular wound allegedly caused by Mr Maguire stabbing the back of Mr Howard's hands - apparently held up in self-defence - was unlikely to have been caused by a knife.

Advocate Nicholls continued to highlight contrasts in statements given by Mr Howard to the Police at A&E. He accused Mr Howard of, "...continuing to lie to this Court," about the amount of alcohol in his blood - around 1.5 times the legal limit around two hours following the incident.

"The reality is you simply can't remember, can you? ...You were both drunk, weren't you?" Advocate Nicholls said.

He later added: "You were the aggressor, and that’s why you sought to minimse your role in this incident and blame Mr Maguire. That’s the truth."

But Mr Howard agreed with Crown Advocate David Steenson, prosecuting, that these inconsistencies were the likely result of his state of shock, and having been under general anaesthetic.

Advocate Nicholls accused Mr Howard of trying to, "...profit from your misfortune" and telling people that he would be able to claim £20,000 in compensation for his injuries.

But Mr Howard rejected this, maintaining: "Money is not my god."

The trial will continue this afternoon when further witnesses will be called.