STATE PATHOLOGIST GIVES EVIDENCE IN JOHN KENNY DEATH TRIAL

Date Published: 15-Nov-2012

Oughterard publican and schoolteacher John Kenny died as a result of blunt force trauma to his upper body and from asphyxia or suffocation, a jury at Galway Circuit Criminal Court was told today.

State Pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy was giving evidence on the third day of the trial of former Galway bus depot security guard and Romanian national, Florin Fitzpatrick

The 38 year old denies a charge of withholding information from Gardai during the ensuing investigation into Mr Kenny’s death, which occurred on September 25 last year at his pub on Main Street, Oughterard.

Professor Cassidy said she noted parallel scratch marks along the left side of the body, consistent with it being dragged along the ground.

A contributing factor to Mr Kenny’s death, she said, could have been ‘positional asphyxia, due to the position in which the body was found face down and his level of intoxication at the time.

In reply to Remy Farrell prosecuting, Prof. Cassidy said the time of death had occurred anytime from ten to seventeen hours before the body was discovered.