A man has been found guilty of the murder of a homeless man in a Dublin park four years ago.
Feri Anghel, 42, of no fixed abode, but originally from Romania, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of another Romanian national, 49-year-old Ioan Artene Bob in Sean Walsh Memorial Park, Tallaght, Dublin, in the early hours of Friday, 13 April 2018.
But a jury of eight men and four women took just three hours and 44 minutes to return a unanimous verdict of guilty on the murder charge following a trial that began at the Central Criminal Court seven weeks ago.
After expressing his gratitude to the jury, Mr Justice Paul Burns excused them from duty for the next ten years.
Mr Justice Burns remanded Anghel in custody until 30 May for sentencing, pending the preparation of background reports and a victim impact statement.
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During the trial, the court heard that Mr Bob had worked in construction, but by the time of his death was living a "transient" life in Dublin city and had slept in his car for a time.
In the days before he was attacked, Mr Bob had a "stroke of luck" at a Dublin city centre casino, winning around €2,700, and sent a large portion of the money home to his family.
Mr Bob was found badly beaten by a woman out walking her dog in Sean Walsh Memorial Park on 13 April 2018 and later died at Tallaght University Hospital
Former Deputy State Pathologist Doctor Margot Bolster, who carried out the post-mortem examination said he had suffered a broken nose, extensive bruising to the top of his head, a broken jaw and several broken teeth in the attack.
She said that multiple lacerations and bruises to the neck, arms, hands and face were also visible.
Dr Bolster said that Mr Bob's lungs had collapsed after multiple ribs became fractured and that his injuries were consistent with those sustained through "kicking and stamping".
Dr Bolster concluded the cause of death to be "very severe and extensive" blunt-force trauma, a bilateral lung-collapse and pulmonary haemorrhage.
Extensive CCTV footage of Mr Bob and Anghel together on the night of 12 April and of them travelling on a Luas towards the park was shown to the court.
The court also heard that at 3am on 13 April Anghel was seen on CCTV attempting to use Mr Bob's bank card at The Square Tallaght shopping centre next to the park.
When Mr Bob was taken to Tallaght University Hospital, he had no bank card, cash or phone on him at the time.
Mr Bob's phone pinged a mobile phone tower at Whitestown ESB in Tallaght when it received texts at 3.20am that morning.
