Teen recalls fatal attack on his 'good friend' Michael
Thursday, 2 October 2008
The Michael McIlveen murder trial played host to compelling scenes last week as defence barristers probed a key Crown witness.
At times, the cut and thrust was worthy of a TV drama as the 17-year-old friend of 'Mickey-bo' was placed under the QCs' microscope for hours on end.
Indeed, the majority of proceedings were consumed by this witness' evidence as he recalled to Antrim Crown Court his first hand account of the events of May 6, 2006, and how he attempted to intervene in the fateful attack.
Ballymena men Aaron Cavana Wallace (20), whose address was given as Moat Road, Christopher Francis Kerr (22), of Carnduff Drive, Jeff Colin Lewis (19), of Rossdale, Christopher Andrew McLeister (18), of Knockeen Crescent, and a 17-year-old youth, stand accused of murdering Mr McIlveen, who died from head injuries in Antrim Area Hospital on May 8 after his life support machine was turned off.
All five are also accused of affray while Lewis and the youth face an additional allegation of causing criminal damage.
Paul Edward David Henson (18), of Condiere Avenue in Kells, does not face the murder charge but it is alleged that he caused affray and criminal damage.
Mervyn Wilson Moon (20), of Douglas Terrace, who the court heard beat the 15-year-old with a baseball bat, has already pleaded guilty to the murder charge.
In a video taped police interview screened in court, the witness, who cannot be named because of his age, said that he saw Moon strike Mr McIlveen "full pelt" with a baseball bat and then club him while he lay curled up on the ground - twice in the manner of a "golf swing".
He also told the jury of eight women and four men how a gang were then "kicking him [Mr McIlveen] on the head and kicking him all round the body" and how he attempted to restrain and fend off the Catholic schoolboy's alleged attackers during the assault.
The witness was able to identify four of the accused as being present when the attack took place - McLeister, Lewis, Wallace and Kerr. He further identified the latter three as having kicked Mr McIlveen on the ground.
The witness recalled how sectarian insults had been slung before and during the Saturday night attack and that they had been called "all the names of the day".
He later stated that Mr McIlveen, who he described at one stage as a "good friend", had acted like a "two-year-old" after the attack and said he "didn't have a clue what was happening".
The witness said that he thought Mr McIlveen's jaw may have been broken, that he couldn't talk, and that when he did it was "gibberish".
However, Mr McIlveen wanted to go home and the witness helped him to the front door of his Dunvale home.
Defence
Under lengthy cross-examinations - primarily from defence counsel for Lewis, Kerr and Wallace - the witness denied embellishing his evidence to boost the chance of convictions.
He said that the events of the night in question were "very clear" in his head and he stressed that, despite the circumstances, he "did see what happened".
However, one QC painted a picture of a "swirling mass of people" among which the witness was at "close quarters" attempting to fend off the attack. He also pointed out to the court that the incident occurred at night.
Meanwhile, another barrister suggested that the injuries sustained by the Ballymena schoolboy were inconsistent with the witness' account.
He stated that the court would hear there was barely a mark on the victim's body, apart from the head injuries.
In addition, the barrister for Wallace questioned the alleged sectarian motive for the assault.
He said that the incident was borne of a "personal difference of opinion probably unhappily caused by a combination of alcohol and adolescent aggression" between Lewis and Mr McIlveen, who had been fighting before the attack occurred.
He also queried how the witness had escaped without harm if this was "an all-out confrontation drawn on sectarian lines".
On another occasion, the witness denied making his story up from mere "snapshots" of what happened that night despite being accused of coming to the police interview with a "rigid mind set firmly against anybody you could name or think of involved in that night" and that he was "going to do them down, come what may".
The witness replied: "I came with a strong mind to tell the story. I didn't need to make it sound any worse than it was."
Meanwhile, Antrim Crown Court also heard from another teenager on Thursday who was chased with Mr McIlveen and claimed they were picked on "because we're Catholics".
The trial continues.
