The first paramedic on the scene where a 53-year-old man sustained fatal injuries in a tented area in Cork in 2019 has told a court that the man's airways were partially obstructed by blood and his face was swollen when he was being treated.
The evidence was given today during the trial of James Brady, 28, of Shannon View, Mayfield, Cork, who denies the murder of Timmy Hourihane, 53, on 13 October 2019.
Mr Hourihane was found with serious injuries near a tent in an area known as the "front field" at Mardyke Walk in Cork city in the early hours of that date and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards in hospital.
Paramedic Gregorz Deboswski told the trial at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Waterford, that he and a colleague were called to the scene at about 12.40am that morning.
There was a tent on fire, he said, and a male was lying unconscious nearby.
Fire service personnel were already performing CPR on the man, he said, and he began working on him. There was no pulse.
"The face was swollen," he told the court. "There was a lot of blood. The airways were partially obstructed with the blood."
They worked on him for eight to 10 minutes and then decided to bring him to Cork University Hospital by ambulance.
On the way, they detected some electrical activity in the man’s heart, but there was still no pulse.
Local resident Catriona Donegan said she was in her parents' house on Western Road, backing onto Mardyke Walk, on the night of 12 October.
Earlier in the evening she noticed five or six people standing around a tent and drinking in the "front field" area, but there was no aggression at that stage.
At 12.25am she was about to drive her boyfriend home when she heard an aggressive scream outside saying "get the f**k away from me, you're the most attention-seeking person ever" in an angry tone.
After bringing her boyfriend home, she was on her way back home when she noticed "an enormous fire" in Mardyke Walk.
She saw a male walking with his back to the hedge and "his demeanour seemed as if he was intoxicated or under the influence".
She said this male took off a hoodie he was wearing and threw it on the fire and there was an explosion.
When she got back to the house she heard a louder bang while she was on the phone to the emergency services at 12.39am to tell them about the fire.
Ms Donegan said that when she went back outside she saw the fire service, gardaí and ambulance personnel and saw that people were working on Mr Hourihane.
Fire service officer Brian Tanner told the court that he got a call at 12.40am to say a tent was on fire and on arrival he met a woman who was "very upset" and told him that "someone was dying".
He found a man lying on the ground who was "clearly very seriously injured" and he and a colleague began working on him, performing CPR and preparing a defibrillator. They couldn't find a pulse.
A statement was read out in court from Dr Eoin Fogarty, who was the consultant in emergency medicine on call at Cork University Hospital over that weekend.
He said he went to the hospital after being informed about Timmy Hourihane and his condition, who was "critically unwell".
The man had had multiple cardiac arrests and his respiratory system was being supported by a bag-valve mask device.
Dr Fogarty performed a sonogram of the man’s chest and then a chest drain and decompressing procedure, as well as requesting two units of red blood cells.
"He had wounds on his head and very significant facial swelling," the doctor said.
Mr Hourihane was also getting chest compressions from staff but was pronounced dead at 2.16am, "as resuscitation efforts were futile".
The trial continues.
