Alison O’Riordan
A teenage boy was "clearly threatening violence" when he waved a knife outside a house in Cork city where 20-year-old college student Cameron Blair was murdered, his defence counsel has told the Central Criminal Court.
The judge adjourned the sentencing of Scott O'Connor on Monday after hearing that the accused now accepts that he had "minimised" his behaviour on the night and there was no longer a conflict on the facts in the case.
His defence counsel also told the court that there was "a lot of emotion involved" with his client, who he said is "sheepish, uncomfortable and finds it difficult to talk about".
The court was told during last month's sentence hearing that the now 19-year-old accused had held a knife high above his head and pointed it at party-goers outside the house party. Evidence was also given that the accused had pulled up his top, revealing his waistband, when his 14-year-old friend told him: "Give it to me, I'll shank one of them." O'Connor also told gardai that he had earlier picked up the knife from the kitchen floor of the house "to scare" the others at the party but said he had no intention of using it.
CCTV footage
Last week, Mr Justice David Keane said he was struggling to reconcile what O'Connor had told his probation officer with what he had witnessed in CCTV footage.
The accused's defence counsel Ronan Munro SC said his client had indicated to his probation officer that he was not waving around a knife but accepted that it had been produced.
In reply, counsel for the State Anne Rowland SC said that the prosecution did not accept that O'Connor's interviews with gardai fully reflected his participation in events and he was "not being frank" in relation to certain events such as where witnesses said he was "waving" the knife.
Pleas
O'Connor, of Churchfield Square, Churchfield, Cork pleaded guilty last January to committing violent disorder at Bandon Road in Cork on January 16th, 2020. He has also pleaded guilty to producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury in the course of a dispute, to wit a knife, in a manner likely unlawfully to intimidate another person on the same occasion.
Cameron was a native of Ballinascarthy in west Cork and a second-year chemical engineering student at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT). He died at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on January 16th, 2020 after being stabbed in the neck while attending a student party at a house in Cork city. Another juvenile has already pleaded guilty to his murder.
Cameron's parents Kathy and Noel Blair and younger brother Alan were supported in the courtroom today by several other extended family members.
At the outset of Monday's hearing, Mr Munro, representing O'Connor, said that he had examined his own conscience since last week to see if the court could have been assisted more.
Conflict on the facts
In reply, Mr Justice Keane said he had "no real interest in recrimination" but did have an "obvious earnest" in "getting things right". The judge said there had been some conflict on the facts in the case and he was now seeking clarity in relation to them.
The barrister said his client must be sentenced in that he had "done more than show a knife" on the evening of the incident and "there was a brandishing". Mr Munro said it was the agreed position between the parties that the prosecution evidence was not contested and that the knife had been brandished in the air, causing alarm to people at the party.
Mr Munro said his client had indicated in his probation report that he was adamant that he was not waving around a knife and said it had remained in his pocket. The court heard that the report had been made available to the court in which the defendant said that he had also produced the knife as he thought it would scare the deceased.
Probation report
Mr Justice Keane said today that the probation report raised a concern and created a clear conflict on the facts. "I am anxious to identify the correct way of proceeding in principle," he added.
Mr Munro said the court was invited to proceed to sentencing on the basis that the knife had been brandished and shown to others at the party. The lawyer said his client told him that he struggles to think and talk about the night.
"He accepts that he was minimising it at the time and now accepts those are the facts and he behaved in that way," he noted. Mr Munro added that the court could see the "limited insight" his client had when he spoke to his probation officer last April.
Mr Justice Keane said the accused either accepted the factual narrative presented by the prosecution witnesses or he did not. "I must accept the defence case but if it is a factual controversy capable of being resolved then I must direct a Newton hearing," indicated the judge.
Newton hearing
In again dismissing the judge's suggestion of a Newton hearing - a separate hearing to resolve a conflict on the facts in a case - Mr Munro said there would not be a need for such a hearing and the court could proceed on the basis of events presented by the prosecution.
His defence counsel also told the court that there was "a lot of emotion involved" with his client and that the defendant is "sheepish, uncomfortable and finds it difficult to talk about".
The barrister said that there had been "a bit of minimisation" of the evidence by O'Connor. In summary, the judge said that Mr O'Connor accepted that what had occurred on the night was as the prosecution had alleged.
Brandishing the knife
Mr Munro said his client was "clearly threatening violence" on the night and was brandishing the knife. Another party went on to commit another crime, where he said there had been no joint enterprise. Referring to the murder of Cameron, Mr Munro accepted that the court had to have regard to it.
In April 2020, a teenage boy, then aged 17, who murdered Cameron by plunging a knife into his neck received a life sentence that will be reviewed in 2032. The boy, who could not be named because he was a minor, pleaded guilty to murdering Cameron on Bandon Road in Co Cork on January 16, 2020.
Ms Rowland submitted today that the accused's role on the night was clearly set out in the various witness statements including that he had taken the knife from the house and concealed it for some time prior to leaving the party.
"The court has seen the CCTV which demonstrates the length of time, the period over which this behaviour took place with the accused outside the door trying to push into the house which had a problem with the front door and was why Cameron had to stand there to prevent people coming in," she argued.
O'Connor has no previous convictions, but he received a formal caution for assault that occurred when he was 14 years of age in October 2017, where he had broken a young male's nose at an underage disco.
The maximum sentence for violent disorder is ten years in prison and five years for production of a knife.
Mr Justice Keane said that in light of the submissions the court would adjourn the sentence until July 12 next.
