Polish victim's blood 'found on accused's shoes'

Natasha Reid

A murder trial has heard that the dead man's blood was found on the defendant's shoes in a pattern consistent with kicking or stamping.

Lukasz Rzeszutko (27) was found unconscious on October 2, 2010, outside his workplace in the Newtown Industrial Estate, Coolock. The Polish native had been due to start work at 4.30am, the time he was found.

The injuries were all to his head -- he had multiple skull fractures with severe brain injury, and brain matter was extruding from his nostrils. He died in hospital two days later.

Martin Morgan (20), of Tonlegee Road, Raheny, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the young man, but guilty to his manslaughter.

However, the DPP did not accept this plea and he is now on trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with murder.

Forensic scientist Dr Stephen Clifford testified yesterday that he found the victim's blood on Martin Morgan's runners.

His colleague, forensic scientist Dr David Casey, testified that he carried out blood pattern analysis on this blood from 12cm of stitching on one of the runners. He concluded that it was contact staining.

He said this was "more likely to have been acquired if Martin Morgan kicked and or stamped on Lukasz Rzeszutko" than if he had not done so.

Paul McDermott , defending Martin Morgan, asked him if the blood could have come from blood on the ground.

"Not in this instance in my opinion," replied Dr Casey.

"The stitching on the right runner was two-and-a-half centimetres from the sole so that would want to be some pool of blood to go up two-and-a-half centimetres and sink into the stitching," he continued.

"I would find it highly unlikely to have a pool of blood two-and-a-half centimetres in height and that a whole shoe would fit into it," he added. "I'd have a very low expectation of that occurring."

Scientist

Mr McDermott asked him if this was possible had the shoe walked through the blood.

"I couldn't rule it out," he said.

"Is it possible?" he was asked.

"It is possible," he replied.

Mr Justice Barry White asked the witness to point out where he'd found Mr Rzeszutko's blood. The scientist put on gloves and pointed to a crevice that he said was two-and-a-half centimetres from the sole.

Two other Dublin men were also charged with murdering Lukasz Rzeszutko and entered the same pleas as Morgan.

Stephen Byrne (18), of St Donagh's Road, Donaghmede; and Morgan's cousin, Edward Byrne, (21) of Cabra Park, Cabra, had their pleas to manslaughter accepted by the DPP. They will be sentenced at a later date.

The trial continues.

hnews@herald.ie