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THE JURY IN the trial of a 40-year-old man accused of a murdering mother-of-two have continued watching a CCTV montage of what the prosecution say are the defendant’s and a named woman’s movements in the aftermath of the killing nearly three years ago.
Brian McHugh (40), with an address at Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun in Dublin 11, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Lisa Thompson (52) at Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun in Dublin 11 on May 9, 2022.
In her opening speech, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions Fiona Murphy SC said Lisa Thompson’s body was found inside the door of her home with multiple stab wounds to the chest and a window blind cord wrapped around the neck.
She said the 12 jurors would hear that a mixed DNA profile was found on the blind cord, to which the accused man couldn’t be excluded as a minor contributor.
The trial has heard witness evidence that Lisa Thompson, who was stabbed 11 times in the chest, was dealing prescription drugs from her home.
A pathologist has also given evidence that Lisa’s death occurred because of a combination of ligature strangulation causing asphyxia and multiple stab wounds to the left side of the chest.
Yesterday, the jury viewed CCTV footage of what the prosecution say are McHugh’s movements near the deceased’s home at Sandyhill Gardens on the night of the killing.
A named woman was seen driving a Hyundai Tucson with a man in the passenger seat on the evening of May 8 and into May 9, 2022.
The Hyundai could be seen turning into Sandyhill Gardens at 01.24am and driving down the lane when the passenger gets out of the vehicle.
The man can be seen entering Sandyhill Court at 1.30am with “some sort of a light in his hand”.
At 2.28am the Hyundai is seen “travelling down into” Sandyhill Gardens and a man can be seen in the front passenger seat of the vehicle around 2.54am.
Murphy has said it is the prosecution case that the male is the accused Brian McHugh.
However, Brendan Grehan SC, defending, has asked that the male be referred to as “the man” for now.
Garda Michelle Purcell, from Santry Garda Station, continued taking the prosecution through a montage of CCTV footage today, which showed the named woman driving the Hyundai into an Applegreen service station on St Margaret’s Road in Swords in the early hours of May 9 at 3.04am.
A man is in the passenger seat of the car.
The jury could see into the front passenger seat of the vehicle from the footage, where the male passenger is “going through a red wallet”.
Gda Purcell commented that the man is seen putting items into his pocket.
The witness also said that the man “went through a red pillowcase”, to which the defence objected. Gda Purcell then said the man had gone through “a red item”.
The two occupants remain at the service station in the Hyundai and at one point the man can be seen with “a red item” on him.
At 3.23am the man, who has items in his hand, walks towards the hatch of the service station, where he counts money.
The Hyundai pulls away from the service station around 3.40am and heads towards Finglas village.
The car returns to the Applegreen service station on St Margaret’s Road at 4.04am and parks up.
The driver gets out and opens the boot of the car. He gets into the driver’s side with “something in his hand”.
The witness said the driver throws something out the window of the car on two occasions when the vehicle is parked up.
The Hyundai leaves the service station around 4.48am and drives onto St Margaret’s Road.
Having played the CCTV footage, Gda Purcell agreed with Ms Murphy that the compilation shown to the jury had spanned from May 8 to May 10.
Murphy asked the witness about having identified a light coming on at the front of Lisa Thompson’s house in the early hours of May 9. Gda Purcell said the light hadn’t gone off and stayed on.
Under cross-examination by Grehan, Gda Purcell agreed that the footage did not show every single movement of the Hyundai nor did it show whether anyone else might have gotten in or out of the car.
The witness further agreed with the defence counsel that there wasn’t any CCTV footage covering the back gate into Lisa Thompson’s house and therefore there is nothing to show “anyone who might enter or leave through those back gates”.
The trial continues tomorrow before Justice Karen O’Connor and a jury of four men and eight women.
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