DRUG ADDICT 'PLEADED FOR LIFE DURING FATAL ATTACK'

A drug addict seriously ill with HIV screamed for mercy as he was kicked and
punched to death by a large group of anti-drugs vigilantes, it was alleged
at a manslaughter trial yesterday.

Alan Byrne, a friend of the drug addict, Josie Dwyer, told Dublin Circuit
Criminal that after the attack by about 15 vigilantes he was "in bits" and
looked "like something from a horror movie".

He said that while he and the deceased were kicked, slapped and beaten with
batons and snooker cues by the gang, another group of men stood at the top
of the street stopping people from helping the pair.

Mr Byrne said he himself was "screaming like a pig" and begging the men to
stop. "There wasn't an inch of my body that wasn't kicked or punched" he
told the jury of eight men and three women.

After some time, Josie Dwyer stopped screaming and, when the witness shouted
over to him, there was no reply.

COLLAPSE

Eventually, one of the attackers said someone was coming and they fled. One
of them lifted up Mr Dwyer's body and spat in his face before running down
Basin Lane. Byrne was helped to his feet by a couple from the Basin Lane
area and tried to help Josie who was breathing very poorly and looked
seriously ill. He also tried to help Josie to get up, but he collapsed. They
were taken by ambulance to St James's hospital, and Josie was declared dead
shortly afterwards. "My head was swimming, I was in shock," Mr Byrne told
the jury.

He went home but couldn't sleep and was in great physical pain. "I couldn't
believe it. One minute we were going out to get cigarettes, half-an-hour
later I'm lying there like that and Josie is dead," he said.

Four men, Hugh Byrne (33), Dolphin House; Mark Cooke (25), Dolphin House;
John Fitzpatrick (35), Fatima Mansions; and William Kenny (55), St Anthony's
Road, all Rialto, deny the manslaughter of Josie Dwyer on May 14, 1996.

Mr Byrne said he was staying in Josie Dwyer's flat in Basin Lane at the time
of the attack. They had taken heroin together earlier in the evening, and
had gone out to get some cigarettes. As they reached the centre of Dolphin's
Barn, a large group of men crossed the road and blocked them. Mr Byrne said
he was thrown against a shop front and kicked and punched by about five of
the men.

Both moved away towards Fatima Mansions, and were followed by the group. Two
other cars pulled up and a man got out.

SNOOKER CUES

The man punched the witness in the face, and he fell on his back. Then a
large group of men began punching and kicking him.

The vigilantes followed them to Basin's Lane. Some of the men were now armed
with batons that may have been snooker cues or pick-axe handles. As the pair
came near this group, Mr Byrne turned around to see what was happening, and
was struck with a blow from behind. Josie was also struck and fell on the road

Mr Byrne identified Fitzpatrick and Kenny in court as two of the men
involved in the earlier attack at Dolphin's Barn but said he did not see
them getting involved in the attack in Basin Lane.

Cross-examined by Mr Diarmaid McGuinness SC, for Hugh Byrne, the witness
said he was a heroin addict for four to five years before the attack and
agreed he had a long criminal record.

Cross-examined by Ciaran O'Loughlin SC, for William Kenny, the witness
denied he had given conflicting evidence about how many people were involved
in the attacks. Mr Byrne said he was in a state of shock when he made an
initial statement to gardai, and had later recalled that Kenny had been one
of the group who attacked him in Dolphin's Barn.

"I've no reason to lie. They are the one's who have the reason to lie," he said.

The trial continues.