BLOOD-SOAKED grass, a blood-spattered wall, and broken teeth were found at the scene of Cork chef Timmy Hourihane’s alleged murder.

Blood spatters were also found on a fence and on a Centra bag containing a soft drink and beer can at the crime scene, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.

State pathologist Dr Margot Bolster, who carried out the autopsy on Mr Hourihane, said that his cause of death was inhalation of blood with extensive bleeding in his lungs due to severe blunt-force head and facial trauma with a traumatic cardiac arrest complicated by brain swelling and a lack of blood supply to the brain.

She said a large amount of blood was found in his larynx, pharynx, trachea and lungs.

He would have been “gurgling” as he struggled to get air into his lungs with a trachea full of fluid, said Dr Bolster.

He suffered the most severe injuries to his face and head, including a broken nose, a broken jawbone, and extensive bleeding.

Some cuts reached down to the bone, she said.

He had 17 injuries externally to his facial area. Multiple additional injuries were found in the soft tissue beneath his face and around his head.

In an internal exam, his lungs were abnormally heavy because they were filled with blood and liquid from his injuries.

Five of his teeth were missing, with at least three lost very recently, said Dr Bolster. A further four teeth were fractured.

Blood had dried onto his face, head, and hair.

His cardiac arrest was a result of the extensive trauma he suffered, said Dr Bolster.

There was no evidence of natural disease that could have caused his death, she said.

Further injuries

Mr Hourihane also suffered multiple broken ribs, both in the centre of his chest and on the side. Dr Bolster said that while the broken ribs in the centre of his chest were most likely caused by extensive efforts to resuscitate him, the lateral ribs may have been broken by kicking or they may also have been caused by medical efforts to save him.

All trauma would have resulted in the significant likelihood of a large volume of blood in his airways with extensive bleeding into the air sacks in his lungs. This would have compromised his lung’s gas and air exchange and would cause cardiac arrest.

And when his heart stopped beating, there would have been no blood supply to his brain, said Dr Bolster.

There was also some damage to the nerve fibres around his brain conducive to the brain moving — or being moved — around the skull, she said.

Dr Bolster said that she was informed by Superintendent Michael Comyns in Cork city that the man had been found in a collapsed state in the early morning.

Mr Hourihane had been admitted under the name ‘John Doe’ as his identity was not known when he was admitted to Cork University Hospital’s emergency department in the early morning of October 13, 2019.

Dr Bolster was given his clinical chart from that hospital which said that he had been found unresponsive by a tent that was on fire.

It noted that he had suffered traumatic cardiac arrest and his heart had stopped.

He had significant facial trauma, blood in his airways and he had fallen into a very deep coma. He had swelling around both eyes, a cut from his mouth, and he was bleeding from his nose and ears. His teeth were significantly disrupted with multiple missing and fractured teeth.

Despite prolonged resuscitation attempts and efforts to remove fluid from his lungs, Mr Hourihane was pronounced dead at 2.16am that morning.

Crime scene

Later that day, at 9.30am, Dr Bolster was taken to the crime scene where she found red staining and teeth on the ground. There were red blood spatters on a wall and on a fence.

There were also blood spatters on a Centra bag found at the scene, containing a soft drink and a can of beer.

Throughout the trial, witnesses have said that they saw a man matching Mr Hourihane’s description carrying a plastic Centra bag in that area and CCTV has been shown of Mr Hourihane carrying a plastic bag as he returned to the camp shortly before he was killed that night.

In an indentation in the ground, which Dr Bolster said was likely where the victim’s head had been, there was also blood and a tooth.

Bits of silver earrings and a portion of a broken zip labelled ‘Japan’ were also observed at the scene.

When he was brought for autopsy, Mr Hourihane was still wearing a number of rings, including one with the word ‘dad’ written on it.

James Brady, aged 28, of Shannon Lawn, Mayfield, Cork City, is on trial for Mr Hourihane’s murder. He has pleaded not guilty to murdering the father of one.

The trial in front of Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy and a jury of seven women and five men at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Waterford was delayed by the refusal of one witness, Adrian Henry, to give evidence.

Mr Hourihane, a former chef from West Cork, was homeless at the time of his death and was staying in a ‘tented village’ in the Mardyke Walk area of Cork city.

Some factions had developed between groups in this tented village and tensions were high on the night of Mr Hourihane’s death, witnesses have said.