Trial opens for Kildare father of 2 charged with the manslaughter of Patsy Kelly

A Kildare father-of-two has gone on trial charged with manslaughter in a case involving a neighbour's dispute over noise and late night drinking. Paul Gill (37) has pleaded not (NOT) guilty to the unlawful killing of Patrick “Patsy” Kelly at Sarto Road, Naas on August 22, 2015. He has pleaded guilty to assaulting both the deceased man and his friend, Martin Curtis, during the same incident. Opening the case Orla Crowe SC, prosecuting, told the jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that “life had not been very kind to Mr Kelly.” The court heard that on the day he died Mr Kelly had been drinking at various locations in Naas, before making his way to his friend Martin Curtis' home on Sarto Road. When he arrived there he encountered the defendant, who lived next door to Mr Curtis with his wife and young children. “There had been issues between the two neighbours regarding late night drinking sessions taking place at Mr Curtis' in the recent past,” Ms Crowe told the jury. A witness to the assaults, Noreen Doyle, told the jury that she saw the accused punch her friend Mr Kelly and then kick him while he was on the ground. She said she heard Mr Gill warn the late Mr Kelly “you're not getting in there tonight” before punching him in the face. Ms Doyle said the accused then knocked Mr Curtis out before returning to Mr Kelly and kicking him. The witness said she didn't know if this kick was to the chest or head. She said she and two others had spent the day drinking at a local car park before going to Mr Curtis's Sarto Road flat. She said Mr Kelly had been on his way to the premises with more alcohol. She said she was standing by an open window in the flat when she saw the accused grab Mr Kelly, drag him along towards the front gate and repeatedly hit him on the face. She said she heard Mr Curtis tell Mr Gill “that's enough”. She added that Mr Gill then knocked Mr Curtis out before returning to Mr Kelly, who was on the ground, to give him a kick. Ms Doyle agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that the incident would have been fresher in her mind at the time she made her garda statement. She said she couldn't remember saying “It's that cunt's fella from next door that did it”, when Mr Clarke put it to her that her boyfriend had quoted these words from her in his statement to gardaí. She agreed with Mr Clarke that there had been issues with people coming back to Mr Curtis's house and creating noise. The trial continues before Judge Melanie Greally and a jury of eight men and four women.