‘Gruesome death of man thrown into rubbish chute’

A MAN died a ‘gruesome death’ after he was allegedly thrown down a rubbish chute, a murder trial has heard.

Liam Manley, 59, had earlier been punched during a row in a flat in a four-storey complex, the Central Criminal Court was told.

David O’Loughlin threw him into a communal rubbish chute, which goes to the bottom of the block, the jury in Cork heard yesterday.

Mr O’Loughlin, of Garden City Apartments, North Main Street, Cork, denies murder on May 12, 2013.

Patrick McGrath SC, prosecuting, told the jury: ‘Mr Manley met what could only be described as a gruesome death.’

He said David O’Mahony, a friend of the accused, had arrived at the flat and a row broke out between Mr O’Loughlin, 31, and Mr Manley.

Mr O’Mahony will claim he tried to break it up but was told to ‘shut up and sit down’, the court heard.

‘Verbal abuse began being directed at the deceased by the accused,’ Mr McGrath said.

‘This quickly developed into physical assault, the accused punching the deceased in the face. This ended with the deceased being dragged out of the apartment by the accused.’

Mr O’Loughlin is alleged to have later told two women ‘he had put someone in the chute’.

A maintenance worker found Mr Manley’s body the following day.

He had gone to the rubbish chute after receiving complaints about it being blocked.

When he got there, he noticed a red substance which he at first thought was sauce, and proceeded to use some rods that he had with him to try and unblock the chute, the court heard.

He got a ‘terrible shock’ when he found Mr Manley’s badly decomposed body, the court heard.

‘He noticed a copious amount of red liquid which he thought was some kind of sauce,’ Mr McGrath told the jury. ‘It dawned on him relatively quickly it was blood.’

The trial continues.