Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
He wasn’t breathing, his heart was still beating & his colour started to change
Woman breaks down telling court how pals’ fight turned to tragedy
A WOMAN who witnessed a fight between two friends that resulted in one of them dying broke down yesterday as she gave evidence about the fatal incident.
Darren O’neill passed away two days after he was punched by Joseph Dorrian during a trip they took with two females to Tyrella Beach in Co Down in June 2019.
Dorrian is standing trial at Downpatrick Crown Court for the manslaughter of Mr O’neill.
The 23-year-old from Lakeview, Crumlin, Co Antrim, has denied the charge and claims he was acting in self-defence.
During the second day of the trial, a young woman who accompanied the friends on the daytrip was called to give evidence via videolink.
She revealed she knew Mr O’neill, 22, prior to June 27, 2019, but had never met Dorrian, who was driving his father’s Seat Arona.
The 20-year-old confirmed she and her friend were picked up and they stopped at an off-licence in West Belfast before travelling to Tyrella near Newcastle.
The woman added that she, her friend and Mr O’neill consumed alcohol while at the beach. She said she didn’t see Dorrian drink anything.
She told the court they listened to music, Dorrian and Mr O’neill went into the water, then the four of them returned to the car park area.
The woman was then asked what happened prior to the two men arguing.
SCARED
She said: “I think Darren said he wanted to go to Newcastle and Joe said something like, ‘Look at the state of you’, because he was drunk.
“Darren got into Joe’s car and this was when he started driving the car and doing handbrake turns.
“Darren started driving the car up and down the field and he was driving it pretty fast because I remember him driving towards us and me and my friend sort of like ran away because we were scared, because he was really drunk and he didn’t really know what he was doing.”
The witness described Dorrian as “agitated at this point” and that she heard him say he was going to “slap” Mr O’neill when he got out of the car.
She was then asked about what happened when the car came to a stop and replied: “Joe shouted, ‘What are you doing, that’s a DLA car’. At that point Darren was still in the car and the window was up, so he got out of the car and they were shouting at each other.
“As they were screaming and shouting at each other, Joe was tapping his cheek saying, ‘Hit me’. Joe was saying that to Darren and Darren hit him but I’m not sure if it was a punch or a slap. Then I seen Joe slapping him back.” The woman said she tried to intervene but was pushed away by Mr O’neill.
She added: “I knew at this point I kind of wanted to go home so I went over and tried to break the fight up, to stop them fighting. I was saying, ‘Look youse two are best friends, what are youse doing fighting?’ and I got pushed out of the way and told to leave it by Darren, so then I realised it was really serious and heated. She said the men continued to argue and were “in each other’s faces”. Then she saw “Joe punch Darren in the face”.
She added: “When Darren was punched in the face he fell straight back. He was only down for a few seconds then he got straight back up again and walked towards us.”
The woman said: “I heard Joe saying, ‘Why are we even fighting, we’re friends. I’m sorry for hitting you’. Then Darren walked towards Joe, both of them started hugging and saying sorry to each other and saying they were best friends – and that’s when Darren collapsed in his arms.”
She added Dorrian laid Mr O’neill on his side and it quickly became obvious he was unwell. She said: “I realised he wasn’t breathing. His heart was still beating and his colour started changing.”
T h e w o m a n summoned the help of passers-by and an ambulance was called.
When asked to describe this scene, she became emotional and asked for a break.
When the hearing resumed, the woman was questioned by Brendan Kelly QC, representing Dorrian.
The witness agreed Mr O’neill appeared “unsteady on his feet” in CCTV footage from the offlicence, that he was “hyper” that day and that he “seemed blocked”. She also accepted that prior to Mr O’neill driving the Seat Arona in the car park area, she had also been driving it after consuming alcohol.
The jury has already been told the cause of Mr O’neill’s death was the blow struck by Dorrian.
This connected with his jaw and 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.
Dorrian denies manslaughter and is claiming self-defence. At hearing.
I got pushed out of the way... then I realised it was really serious WITNESS DOWNPATRICK COURT YESTERDAY