Murder accused told gardaí he couldn't remember stabbing man as he was so drunk, jury hears

Alison O'Riordan

A murder accused told gardaí that he couldn't remember stabbing his sister's partner with a kitchen knife as he was so drunk but later said that "all the evidence pointed" to him being "the only one responsible", a jury has heard.

Moldovan national Valeriu Melnic (24), with an address at Calliaghstown Lower, Rathcoole, Co Dublin has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Ion Daghi (39) at The Close, Sallins Park, Sallins in Co Kildare on May 12th, 2024.

A pathologist has told the jury that Mr Daghi died from a single stab wound to the chest.

Having been arrested on suspicion of assault causing harm to Mr Daghi at 3.30am on May 12th, Mr Melnic was deemed unfit for interview and was not questioned until 15 hours later. He told interviewing officers at Naas Garda Station that he and the deceased had been drunk and at some point an argument started. "A lot of drink was taken, my memory is very hazy," he added.

The accused said he remembered pouring whiskey into a glass and Mr Daghi told him he was pouring whiskey in the "incorrect manner" and they started fighting with their fists.

The accused said he remembered a brief moment where he was sitting on the floor and Mr Daghi was trying to choke him. "The only moment I remember is when he tried to choke me, am I going to prison?" asked Mr Melnic.

The defendant told gardai "we drank three or four bottles of whiskey between the two of us and I drank beer too".

In his next interview, the accused said he worked in a granite and concrete factory and had been a heavy drinker over the years. He said he drank quite a lot and that alcohol had "deleted" his memory "almost completely".

Mr Melnic said he couldn't remember taking the knife and had fights before "but would never use a weapon".

Asked whether he accepted he had stabbed Mr Daghi, the accused said he was ready to face punishment but couldn't remember anything. He accepted he had "caused the wound which caused" the deceased "to pass" but did not remember.

In his final Garda interview on May 13th, Mr Melnic said he was ready to face a punishment but recalled "nothing of the fight". "What I remember I told you, what I didn't tell you I don't remember...I didn't want to harm anyone, I didn't want to cause all of this".

"You don't recall grabbing a knife and your sister struggling with you to stop you?" asked the detectives. "I can't recall anything of what you said, my memory is blank," he replied.

He continued: "I can't recall holding a knife, I can't recall how I stabbed him. I regret it happened to my sister, my sister gone through a horrible thing".

He said he was the most intoxicated person in the house, which is why he accepted every statement read to him by gardaí.

"I can't imagine I'm capable of stabbing a live person but ready to face the consequences for my actions". He denied pretending that he couldn't remember.

The accused said he was drunk so he couldn't recall everything. Gardaí put it to him that "in this country doing things when drunk isn't a defence", to which the accused said he wasn't trying to use it as a defence.

"Do you accept that you did stab him with a knife?" asked the officers. "Not accepting but it's a reality... I'm not that type of person, I find it hard to comprehend I'm a person capable of doing such a bad thing," said the accused.

He said he was prepared for punishment but couldn't recall grabbing the knife or stabbing Mr Daghi. "I wish I was dead, not him".

Mr Melnic said he hadn't "done this on purpose", it wasn't deliberate.

The accused said he was being choked by Mr Daghi, couldn't breathe and remembered pushing him away."I can't remember how I stabbed him but prepared to face punishment for my actions".

Asked again whether he accepted he stabbed Mr Daghi, the accused said he had to accept it. "If everyone says it's my fault it shows I'm the person involved".

Gardaí put it to the accused that he had picked the "biggest knife" when he went to stab the deceased. Mr Melnic said he didn't know why he had picked that knife but all the evidence pointed that he was "the only one responsible".

Earlier, Garda Justin Meaney testified that the accused was intoxicated, quite emotional and agitated when he arrived at the deceased's house in Sallins at 3.35am on May 12th.

He said Mr Melnic was rambling at times in another language and other times in English. When he cautioned the accused, Mr Melnic said: "Maybe tonight I killed someone cause he stupid".

Gda Meaney told Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that Mr Melnic was bleeding from the back of the head. He said the accused had gashes at the top and back of the head, a badly swollen eye and cuts and scrapes on his knee.

Dr Mohamad Shafi told Carl Hanahoe SC, prosecuting, that he examined the accused on May 12th and found injuries including severe swelling on the side of the face, which could have been caused by a punch.

There was pooling of blood in the tissues surrounding the accused's eye and abrasions on the lateral and back part of the head. There were also abrasions on the knee.

Under cross-examination, the doctor agreed with Mr Grehan that the scratch marks on the neck were "quite possibly" consistent with the accused being grabbed around the neck.

Asked if it was fair to say he was looking at someone who had suffered "a beating", the witness said "yes, possibly".

In his opening address, Mr Hanahoe said it was the State's case that the accused “armed himself with a kitchen knife” and stabbed Mr Daghi once in the chest following an altercation after the pair had spent the night drinking together.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice David Keane and a jury of eight men and four women.