GET YOUR 16-PAGE MARY BERRY PULLOUT IN YOU MAGAZINE On trial for ‘trying to kill a man twice in same day’

A 22-YEAR-old man has gone on trial, charged with attempting to murder another man twice, firstly by stabbing him 28 times and later by putting him into the boot of a car that was pushed into a canal.

Despite suffering a punctured lung, the injured man escaped from the car and swam to shore.

A jury was hearing the opening speech at the Central Criminal Court yesterday morning in the trial of Paul Crosby of Rathmullen Park in Drogheda.

The accused has pleaded not guilty to attempting to murder, to falsely imprisoning and to causing serious harm to Gerard Boyle on November 10, 2016, at Knockcommon, Beauparc, Slane in Co. Meath.

He also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Mr Boyle later on the same date at Boyne Canal, Drogheda.

Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, told the jurors that Mr Boyle was 21 years old at the time and living in Beechwood Avenue, Drogheda.

He said that Mr Crosby had been accused of breaking the windows of Mr Boyle’s home earlier that year, and that he had called to Mr Boyle’s door on the night of the stabbing, saying he wanted to chat.

The barrister said that Mr Boyle had travelled with the accused and another man ‘on a sort of spin out west towards the direction of Slane’. He said that Mr Boyle took over driving at one stage, after the accused said he couldn’t talk while driving.

‘While he was driving around Knockcomman Cemetery, [with] Mr Crosby seated directly behind him, Mr Boyle feels a pinch somewhere around the shoulder,’ said Mr Gageby. ‘He sees that he’s being stabbed with a knife and this is not some mere pinprick. He is being stabbed in the neck and shoulder. He’s trying to escape by moving forward and is being moved back by Mr Crosby.’

The barrister said that the car stopped suddenly, the stabbing continued and that Mr Boyle was pulled out of the car.

‘He is distressed, naturally, and he’s put into the boot with the assurance he’s going to be brought to hospital,’ continued Mr Gageby.

‘The car speeds away and then it stops. Mr Boyle hears a car door slamming, the car moves forward, there’s a little bit of speed and then a rocking motion.

‘The car had been put into water known as the Boyne canal.’

Mr Boyle had 28 stab wounds, two of which had punctured his lung, and his breathing was affected.

However, he managed to kick down the rear seat of the Passat and open a door. Water gushed in but he managed to ‘swim or paddle to safety’. ‘He then had to wander for a while before anyone would pick him up,’ explained Mr Gageby.

‘Some Samaritan passer-by stopped, an ambulance was phoned and he was rescued and brought to hospital where he stayed quite a while.’

Mr Boyle told the jury that Mr Crosby had used a gun to push in the glass on the night his windows were broken.

He also described the first part of the car journey on the night of the stabbing, explaining that he had left his phone at home after Mr Crosby had told him to do so.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of six women and six men.

It is expected to continue at the Central Criminal Court for more than a week.

Stabbed and pushed into canal