‘Phone had image of an amputated toe’

A PHOTOGRAPH of a severed toe was sent from a phone attributed to a man accused of murder, a court heard.

A jury heard the evidence yesterday in the trial of a 29-year-old charged with the murder of a fellow homeless man, who had almost €150,000 in savings.

The Central Criminal Court has heard how the late Gerard Donnelly, 36, had €8,500 in cash and €140,000 in a bank account weeks before gardaí found his body on fire in Phoenix Park.

He died of blunt force trauma to the head and was set alight and had his little toe amputated.

Ciaran Moran, with an address in Camden Street, Dublin, denies murdering Mr Donnelly between November 28 and 29, 2013.

Detective Garda Eamon O’Brien told the court he found an image of a toe on a Sony Xperia phone.

The detective said the image had been created at 10.41pm on November 29, 2013, and seemed to have been sent from the phone at that time. He had no information on the recipient.

Richard Doyle gave evidence last week that he had taken the Sony phone from the accused to call an ambulance for him on the night of November 30. He said the accused disappeared before he could return it to him. He gave it to gardaí later.

The trial heard yesterday that gardaí found a Sony Xperia box and a €170 menswear shop receipt dated November 29 under Mr Moran’s bed.

Garda Ciara O’Sullivan said she searched under his bunk in Camden Hostel on December 1, 2013, and found a bag from Penthouse Menswear, which had an Xperia box in it.

Jurors also saw CCTV footage which the State said showed the accused walking towards the scene shortly before the killing. Other footage was shown, which the State said showed the accused spending money the following day.

The trial continues.