DEADLY PUNCH ACCUSED: I ACTED IN SELF-DEFENCE

Tyrella killing was an ‘unnecessary & unlawful act’ manslaughter trial told

A MAN accused of killing his friend in a “one-punch” incident claimed he acted in self-defence, a jury heard yesterday.

However, the punch thrown by Joseph Dorrian, 23, which claimed the life of Darren O’neill was, according to a Crown barrister, “an entirely unnecessary, unjustified, unlawful act”.

As a trial into the alleged manslaughter of the 22-year-old began at Downpatrick Crown Court, the case against the accused – who denies the charge – was opened to the jury.

The men travelled from Belfast to Tyrella Beach in Co Down in Dorrian’s father’s car, together with two female friends, on June 27, 2019.

Crown barrister Gavan Duffy said that after stopping at an off-licence in West Belfast, the four arrived at the location at around 5pm.

On the journey, Mr O’neill drank beer and told the girls he had taken a “Bud” – a nickname for the prescribed medication Lyrica/pregabalin.

At around 7pm Mr O’neill got into the car and started driving it around the beach. Mr Duffy said a witness described him as “raking about in the car”, doing hand-break turns and driving at speed.

While he was doing this, a witness said Dorrian was “cracking up”, that he was annoyed and angry and was heard saying he was going to hit Mr O’neill when he came back.

It is the Crown’s case that when the car stopped and Mr O’neill got out, he was approached by an angry Dorrian who slapped him. Mr O’neill hit Dorrian back, there was an angry exchange between the two men and one of their female friends tried to intervene but was pushed away by Mr O’neill.

The men continued to argue, Mr O’neill said to Dorrian “come on, hit me”, and at that point Dorrian struck Mr O’neill’s jaw with his right fist with some force.

The blow caused Mr O’neill to fall on his backside but after a few seconds he got back up. The two men then said they shouldn’t be fighting and hugged each other but Mr O’neill suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Mr Duffy said his colour changed, he was having difficulty breathing and it was clear he was in a “very bad way”. The air ambulance was called but was unavailable and, while waiting on an ambulance, CPR was performed on Mr O’neill at the scene.

Dorrian was detained by police as Mr O’neill was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

He arrived at 9pm and was taken to the Intensive Care Unit. Despite medical intervention, he passed away on June 29. A postmortem concluded the cause of Mr O’neill’s death was the blow struck by Dorrian. The pathologist said the force of the blow to the jaw caused a tear in an internal artery that carries blood to the brain, which led to a bleed on the brain and a cardiac arrest.

The accused, from Lakeview i n Crumlin, Co Antrim, claims Mr O’neill threw a punch which glanced off his shoulder and struck his jaw.

The trial is due to resume today.

TRAGIC Darren O’neill died in June 2019 year-old Joseph Dorrian is on trial for manslaughter