Attempted murder trial continues today in Jersey

Thursday 02 March 2017

The trial resumes this morning in Jersey's Royal Court of a man accused of attempted murder.

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.

Yesterday, the Court heard how in the early hours of 30th October, an altercation – allegedly linked to a dispute over the authorship of a Cat Stevens song – saw Mr Maguire launch at Mr Howard, using Mr Howard’s own knife to stab him in the neck.

In an animated account to the jury, Mr Howard related how Mr Maguire became “ever more loud and aggressive” the more he drank – allegedly around “14 or 15 cans of cider” and the “majority” of a one-litre bottle of vodka, which, at times, he mixed with the cider.

The Court heard that the defendant would talk, "...more and more about fighting and killing" and at, at one point, started "talking about violence" with "two imaginary characters."

"I could see a red flag because his mannerism was getting more and more violent, basically," Mr Howard said.

In a scene acted out using his inhaler, Mr Howard recounted how Mr Maguire used two hands to stab the knife into the left-hand side of his neck. 

Mr Howard was later cross examined by the Defence - Advocate Paul Nicholls put it to him that, “you’re the one that gets into trouble when you’re intoxicated.”

But Mr Howard denied that he was a “regular drinker”.

He said that he had been taking part in “Sober October” in the weeks leading up to the 30^th October.

He also refuted earlier claims that the altercation had started over a dispute over whether ‘Father and Son’ had been written by Cat Stevens or Boyzone.

But Advocate Nicholls later stated: “You do have considerable difficulties distinguishing between fact and fiction… You have difficulties telling the truth, don’t you?”

He pointed to inconsistencies in various police statements made by Mr Howard, which he said included “embellishment”.

Mr Howard said that this was because, “I was in shock, I was under sedation. This has never happened to me before, I’ve never been stabbed in my life.”

The Defence will continue their cross-examination of Mr Howard this morning.