john-connor
November 20th, 2012, 08:26 AM
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1120/zhen-zhao-court.html A 36-year-old man kicked another man to death following a row over a 70c phone call, a jury at the Central Criminal Court was told today.
Zhen Dong Zhao, of Jervis Street, Dublin 1, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 40-year-old Noel Fegan in a Dublin city centre internet cafe last year
Mr Zhao leased the ground floor of the Temple Bar Gallery on lower Wellington Quay in Dublin last year, which he operated as the e-times internet cafe.
At around 3.50pm on the Friday, 20 May 2011, Noel Fegan and his friend went in there to ring his daughter in a phone booth.
The Central Criminal Court was told today that after that, a row broke out between Zhen Dong Zhao and Noel Fegan over whether he had gotten through on the phone and owed 70c.
The court was told that Mr Fegan slapped Mr Zhao on the face and ran out on to the quays.
It heard that that Mr Zhao followed him and that when Mr Fegan was lying on the ground, he kicked him repeatedly in the body, head and neck. The 40-year-old died a short time later.
Prosecuting Counsel Pauline Walley told the jury that Noel Fegan was on methadone and was in the Focus Centre in Dublin when he received a 'call me' text from his teenage daughter.
She said that the deceased had no credit on his phone, his friend did not have a phone, and so they ended up in Mr Zhao's e-times cafe after a number of other failed attempts to borrow a phone and ring Mr Fegan's daughter.
The jury was told that the attack on Noel Fegan took place during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II last year,.
They heard that there was a large police presence in the city, and that gardaí were on the scene almost immediately.
Defence Counsel Brendan Grehan read to the jury extracts from Mr Zhao's final interview with gardaí where in answer to questions he said: "I can' t remember how many times I kicked him I was so angry.
“Because he hit me first I was afraid he was going to hit me again. I didn't want to kill him. After I saw the CCTV footage I couldn't even recognise myself. This is not my intention at all. Just for 70c he lost his life and I destroyed mine.”
Zhen Dong Zhao has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Noel Fegan. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Zhen Dong Zhao, of Jervis Street, Dublin 1, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 40-year-old Noel Fegan in a Dublin city centre internet cafe last year
Mr Zhao leased the ground floor of the Temple Bar Gallery on lower Wellington Quay in Dublin last year, which he operated as the e-times internet cafe.
At around 3.50pm on the Friday, 20 May 2011, Noel Fegan and his friend went in there to ring his daughter in a phone booth.
The Central Criminal Court was told today that after that, a row broke out between Zhen Dong Zhao and Noel Fegan over whether he had gotten through on the phone and owed 70c.
The court was told that Mr Fegan slapped Mr Zhao on the face and ran out on to the quays.
It heard that that Mr Zhao followed him and that when Mr Fegan was lying on the ground, he kicked him repeatedly in the body, head and neck. The 40-year-old died a short time later.
Prosecuting Counsel Pauline Walley told the jury that Noel Fegan was on methadone and was in the Focus Centre in Dublin when he received a 'call me' text from his teenage daughter.
She said that the deceased had no credit on his phone, his friend did not have a phone, and so they ended up in Mr Zhao's e-times cafe after a number of other failed attempts to borrow a phone and ring Mr Fegan's daughter.
The jury was told that the attack on Noel Fegan took place during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II last year,.
They heard that there was a large police presence in the city, and that gardaí were on the scene almost immediately.
Defence Counsel Brendan Grehan read to the jury extracts from Mr Zhao's final interview with gardaí where in answer to questions he said: "I can' t remember how many times I kicked him I was so angry.
“Because he hit me first I was afraid he was going to hit me again. I didn't want to kill him. After I saw the CCTV footage I couldn't even recognise myself. This is not my intention at all. Just for 70c he lost his life and I destroyed mine.”
Zhen Dong Zhao has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Noel Fegan. The trial is expected to last two weeks.