Man accused of Kilkee murder ‘freely admitted’ he stabbed deceased after arrest

A MAN accused of murder “freely admitted” that he stabbed the deceased and “expressed remorse” after he was arrested, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

The trial of Robbie Walsh, 23, from Island View, Kilrush, Co Clare, opened before Ms Justice Carmel Stewart this Monday afternoon after a jury of seven men and five women was sworn in.

Mr Walsh is accused of murdering Karl Haugh, 25, whose nickname was ‘Gobbo’, from Kilkee, Co Clare, in the Marian Estate in Kilkee on August 6, 2017.

Mr Walsh has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, told the jury that on the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2017, Robbie Walsh was socialising in the village of Kilkee with his two cousins Mitchell Walsh and Clinton Walsh, also of Kilrush, from around 9pm.

Mr Gageby said, that evening, Craig Garvey, a cousin of Mr Haugh, was mixing with the three Walshes in Kilkee and two phone calls to Mr Haugh were “generated as a result of that contact”.

These phone calls were recorded and will be played for the jury, Mr Gageby said. Transcripts will also be provided.

Mr Gageby said the first phone call was between Mitchell Walsh and Mr Haugh and that, during this call, Mitchell Walsh was “being aggressive towards Karl Haugh”.

The second call, Mr Gageby said, was between Robbie Walsh and Mr Haugh and that Robbie Walsh “didn’t seem to be in an aggressive form at all”.

Mr Gageby said: “Eitherway, as a result of those calls, Craig Garvey, who was earlier with the Walshes, phoned Karl Haugh to say that either the Walshes, or one of the Walshes, was coming down to Marian Estate. The implication was it wasn’t a friendly visit.”

Mr Gageby said the only member of the Walsh family who did go to the Marian Estate at this time was Clinton Walsh.

The prosecuting counsel said Karl Haugh, who had a shed outside the back of his house which he used as a gym and place to socialise with his friends, was, at this point, with some friends at Marian Estate.

After Clinton Walsh arrived, “a bit of pushing and shoving and not a lot more” took place between Clinton Walsh and the “Haugh faction”, Mr Gageby said.

Mr Gageby said, following that, “the parties drifted off” and Clinton Walsh went back up to the town of Kilkee to meet Robbie and Mitchell Walsh. This was around 12.30am or so.

About a half an hour later, Robbie, Clinton and Mitchell Walsh went to the Marian Estate and, Mr Gageby said, “it would seem Mitchell had a knife”. 

He said of the other two men [Robbie and Clinton], one or more had a metal bar.

The court heard that it’s the prosecution’s case that an altercation occurred between the Walshes and Mr Haugh and some of his friends in an area at the back of the county council housing estate where cars are generally parked.

Mr Gageby said this altercation occurred after a Volkswagen Passat was vandalised “under the apprehension I think that it belonged to Karl Haugh which it didn’t”.

Mr Gageby said: “During the court of the altercation, Robbie Walsh was engaged with Karl Haugh and he stabbed Karl Haugh in the back with a knife, a single penetrating wound.”

Mr Gageby said the blade went through his back, sliced through a rib and sliced his lung - causing severe bleeding.

Mr Haugh was then helped to a neighbour's house, an ambulance was called and Mr Haugh was taken to University Hospital Limerick where he was pronounced dead at around 5.20am.

Mr Haugh said shortly after the incident, Robbie Walsh “was arrested on a minor public order charge”, brought to a Garda station, charged and later released and went home.

Mr Gageby said: “One of the aspects of this case is that at the beginning it appeared some people thought Mitchell Walsh may have been the person to stab Karl Haugh but the focus of the investigation turned to Robbie Walsh.”

The prosecution counsel said Robbie Walsh was then arrested at around 10am on the morning of August 6, 2017, when gardai called to his house.

Mr Gageby told the jury that, following his arrest, Robbie Walsh “freely admitted he stabbed Karl Haugh and expressed remorse, and that continued through interviews which you [the jury] will hear”.

He added that the knife used “broke in the course of the event” and the blade was found at the scene while the handle was found elsewhere.

Mr Gageby told the jury they will see CCTV footage, photographs and maps.

He said the CCTV footage will be of “great assistance” to the jury because a “fair amount of drink was consumed” by those involved.

Mr Gageby told the jury they would hear from ambulance personnel, gardai, a medic from the UHL and the Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis.

He added: “There will be some forensic evidence but I don’t think it’s a matter of great complexity.”

The trial continues before Justice Carmel Stewart and a jury of five women and seven men.