A 30-year-old man has gone on trial charged with the murder of two elderly brothers, in what was described as a vicious assault, four years ago.
Alan Cawley, who has an address at Corrimbla, Ballina in Co Mayo, has admitted causing the deaths of Jack and Tom Blaine at their home in Castlebar, but denies murdering them.
Prosecuting counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley told the jury there was no issue but that Mr Cawley had caused the deaths.
He said the issue for the jurors would be whether what the accused had done amounted to murder or manslaughter.
He said the evidence would be that the injuries inflicted on both men were very, very severe.
He said they died in horrific, very violent circumstances.
He said he would describe the assaults as "pretty vicious".
The two elderly men were bachelors and lived together in a house in Castlebar.
They were found just before 7.30am on 10 July 2013 by a woman who used to care for them.
Tom Blaine was lying on the floor of a bedroom downstairs and his brother was lying in a small courtyard.
Both men had died as a result of a violent struggle.
The court heard Jack Blaine had speech and hearing impediments as well as dementia.
Mr Vaughan Buckley told the jury that the State Pathologist, Marie Cassidy, would say that Tom Blaine died of blood loss and blunt force trauma to his head, neck and chest.
Jack Blaine had also suffered numerous blows to his right side and had fractures to his skull and bruising to his brain.
He had also been scalded by having a hot liquid poured on him. She said neither man had died immediately.
He said they would hear evidence that Jack Blaine used to come in to the pub across the road with a cup, which would be filled with tea by the barman and left on the windowsill of his house. They would be told that the accused had been seen helping Jack Blaine across the road just after midnight on 10 July 2013.
The court was also told that Alan Cawley initially denied any involvement in the killings.
Later he told gardaí he was sorry for all the torture he had put everyone through.
His defence counsel, Caroline Biggs, said Mr Cawley formally accepted and admitted he had caused the deaths of the two men.
The trial will continue next week.
