Jury sees CCTV of moment teen Josh ‘collapsed’
Delivery cyclist on trial over alleged murder
CCTV footage of the moment Josh Dunne collapsed in the street has been shown at the trial of a man accused of stabbing the 16-year-old to death.
Detective Garda Patrick Kenny told the Central Criminal Court that he compiled footage from the East Wall area of Dublin on the night George Gonzaga Bento is alleged to have murdered Josh.
Video from the Seabank House pub at the junction of East Wall Road and East Road, the witness said, captured the incident.
Det Gda Kenny identified the moment shortly after 9.22pm when Josh “collapsed” to the ground before his friends rushed to his side to try to help.
Bento, 36, a Brazilian national with an address in East Wall in Dublin, is charged with murdering Josh at East Wall on January 26, 2021.
He is also accused of producing a utility knife in a manner likely to intimidate another in the course of a dispute or fight.
The defendant is further accused of assault causing harm to two other young men on the same occasion.
Bento has pleaded not guilty to each of the four counts.
The prosecution alleges that Bento produced a knife during a “stand-off or confrontation” with a man on a moped for stealing another delivery cyclist’s bike.
Shortly after this, a group of young people including tragic Josh came upon this confrontation.
Prosecution counsel Sean Guerin told the jury they will hear evidence that some force or violence was used by members of the group on Bento and the man on the moped, along with evidence that the accused stabbed Josh’s teenage friend.
Counsel said there will be evidence that the deceased, who had been back a short distance from the confrontation, then became physically involved, moved towards Bento and appeared to use force or violence towards him.
MOPED
The CCTV compilation began outside a Mcdonald’s restaurant on East Wall Road where Det Gda Kenny said the accused man was sitting on the pavement at around 8.15pm.
Around 25 minutes later another delivery cyclist arrived at a nearby Lidl outlet and left his bicycle beside a trolley bay.
At 9.14pm a man arrived at the trolley bay on a moped, picked up the bicycle and carried it down the East Wall Road, still driving the moped.
Mr Bento, the witness said, could be seen close by as the man on the moped left the trolley bay carrying the bicycle.
Further CCTV footage showed the man on the moped travelling along the East Wall Road carrying the bicycle before stopping at the junction with the East Road.
Bento and another delivery cyclist could be seen arriving at the junction with the East Road three minutes after the man on the moped.
Mr Guerin said he would not ask the garda to give his version of what was captured next on CCTV from the Seabank House as, he said, that is a matter for the jury.
The witness did identify Bento, Josh and his friend who is one of the two other alleged victims.
He also identified other members of the group of young people.
The third alleged victim arrived moments after Josh collapsed and was seen a short time later going across the street towards Seabank House and getting on to the back of the moped which then drove away.
The trial continues on Monday in front of Mr Justice Paul Burns and a jury of five men and seven women.