Man accused of attempted murder will continue his evidence this morning

Friday 03 March 2017

A local scaffolder accused of stabbing his friend during a drunken argument will continue to give evidence in the Royal Court this morning.

Gerard Eamon Maguire (49) is accused of attempting to murder his friend of around seven years, Shaun Patrick Howard (63). He pleads not guilty to the charge.

The Court has heard allegations from Mr Howard that in the early hours of 30th October, an altercation saw Mr Maguire launch at Mr Howard, using Mr Howard’s own knife to stab him in the neck.

But yesterday, Advocate Paul Nicholls, defending, put it to Mr Howard that he was the aggressor instead.

Yesterday afternoon, Advocate Nicholls called Mr Maguire to the witness stand. 

He said that Mr Howard had thrown a glass at him after he had tried to leave with his bottle of vodka.

“He just said, 'f***ing take the vodka,' and threw a glass at me… I stood up and I took a step towards him and I said, 'What the f**k are you doing?'” Mr Maguire claimed.

Mr Maguire said that he was carrying a knife – leant to him by Mr Howard to take home for cutting meat – in his right hand.

He said that Mr Howard then took hold of his hand, with one hand on his own hand and another on the knife’s blade, and, "…pushed it into my eye", which ended up wounding him.

While the pair, “…were basically struggling for control of the knife”, Mr Maguire said that the handle and blade came apart, and that Mr Howard may have sustained his injury during this moment. He says he didn’t see, as he was looking down, punching Mr Howard in the stomach at the time, with his vision clouded by blood from his wound.

Contrary to what had been claimed earlier in Court, Mr Maguire denied that he had argued with “two imaginary characters” preceding the altercation, and said that the argument over a song – allegedly a track by Steely Dan, not Cat Stevens – was no more than a “disagreement”.

During questioning, Mr Maguire admitted that he should have called the emergency services, but noticed as he left the building to walk home that, “…there was four or five people” around Mr Howard and that he, “…was was obviously getting help”.

The Court was also told that Mr Howard’s neck injury could have proven “fatal” were it not for the medical assistance he received from a nearby party of young people, and paramedics.

The case continues.