Jury watches CCTV of moment Josh collapsed
A JURY in the trial of a delivery cyclist accused of stabbing schoolboy Josh Dunne to death has viewed CCTV footage of the moment the 16-year-old collapsed.
Detective Garda Patrick Kenny told prosecution counsel Seán Guerin SC that he compiled CCTV footage from the East Wall area of Dublin on the night George Gonzaga Bento is alleged to have murdered the teenager.
Footage from the Seabank House pub captured the incident, the witness said. As the jury watched the footage, Det Gda Kenny identified the moment shortly after 9.22pm when Josh ‘collapsed’ to the ground before his friends rushed to his side.
Mr Bento, 36, a Brazilian national with an address in East Wall, Dublin 3, is charged with murdering the 16year-old at East Wall Road, East Wall on January 26, 2021. He has pleaded not guilty. The prosecution alleges that Mr 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 Josh came upon this confrontation and got involved, the court has heard.
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 about 8.15pm. About 25 minutes later another delivery cyclist arrived at a nearby Lidl and left his bicycle outside. At 9.14pm a man arrived on a moped, picked up the bicycle and carried it down the East Wall Road, still driving the moped.
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. Mr Bento and another delivery cyclist could be seen arriving at the junction with the East Road three minutes after the man on the moped.
The witness identified Mr Bento, Josh and Josh’s friend, who is one of two other alleged stabbing victims. He also identified other members of the same group of young people. The third alleged victim arrived moments after Josh collapsed and was seen a short time later going across the street and getting onto the back of the moped which then drove away along the East Road.
The jury also viewed part of the incident as it was captured by the dash-cam of a car.
Mr Bento is also accused of producing a utility knife, and of assault causing harm to two other young men on the same occasion. He has pleaded not guilty to each of the four counts. The trial continues on Monday in front of Judge Paul Burns and a jury of five men and seven women.