A Wicklow man has pleaded not guilty to murder after a christening in Bray.
Mr Richard O'Carroll (33), with addresses at Greenpark Road, Bray, and Cois Sleibhe, Southern Cross Road, Bray, denies murdering Mr Keith Fortune (27), Hazelwood Upper, Dargle Road, Bray.
Mr Fortune allegedly died as a result of an incident at the William Dargan Inn, Goldsmith Terrace, Quinsboro Road, Bray, on May 2nd, 1999.
He was in the company of a family celebrating the christening of a child earlier that day.
Mr Barry Hickson, prosecuting, told the jury of five women and seven men in his opening speech in the Central Criminal Court that the defendant murdered Mr Fortune.
Counsel said Mr Fortune and Mr O'Carroll were in the inn on the evening before the fatal stabbing. There was a celebration after a christening which had taken place earlier that day.
Shortly after closing time, outside the pub, Mr Hickson said, an incident occurred between the two men. A number of witnesses would testify that they saw Mr Fortune "holding his side".
He was brought by ambulance to St Columcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, shortly after 1 a.m. "He had multiple stab wounds to the chest," Mr Hickson said. After going into cardiac arrest, Mr Fortune was pronounced dead at 4.20 a.m.
The jury heard that when Mr O'Carroll was arrested, he allegedly told gardaí he was defending himself.
Mr Christopher Williams, an emergency medical technician, said when he arrived at the inn, Mr Fortune was "on the ground covered in blood" and he was unconscious.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Quinn.
