Teen on trial for murder told gardaí: 'I don’t get why he called us kn***ers'

The 17-year-old on trial for murdering 44-year-old postman Barry Daly in his front garden said that a man calling him a ‘knacker’ when he was on his way up to the deceased’s home with a golf club in each hand at around 2am was hurtful.

An earlier witness in the trial, Seamus Hunter, testified that he was trying to calm things in Doneraile in the early hours of last October 12 and when he saw two young fellas with golf clubs, the first thing that came out of his mouth was: ‘What are ye fucking at, ye fucking knackers’. 

He said he approached them with his hands up to tell them they couldn’t go around with golf clubs and that they should go home. That was when he got head-butted into the left side of his nose by the 17-year-old.

This evidence was put to the 17-year-old who is now on trial for murder, when he was interviewed by gardaí soon after the fatal incident in Doneraile. 

The teenager said to gardaí: 

“I don’t get why he called us knackers. That is hurtful to me.” 

The interview evidence was played throughout the fifth day of the trial at the Central Criminal Court. The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified as he is a juvenile, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter of 44-year-old Barry Daly at Rockview Terrace in Doneraile on October 12 2025. 

He is on trial before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of six men and six women at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

He told gardaí in one of the interviews that he took three golf clubs from a golf bag at his home. He said they were irons from a set of coloured clubs and that he brought black, red and silver clubs into Doneraile and gave one to 20-year-old Alex Deady when he met him.

During the investigation two broken clubs were found. Gardaí asked the 17-year-old how they got broken and he replied that one was broken from hitting the ground. Regarding the second broken club, he said he could not remember where or how it got broken.

Asked about what occurred in the garden, the teenager said of the deceased, Barry Daly: 

“He was coming for me. Alex hit him once. I could see he was swinging for me and he falling. After he falling, we went away.” 

Elsewhere in the interviews in relation to having golf clubs he said: “We didn’t want to do what we did, we didn’t go up there planning what we did. I didn’t plan to use it.” 

Asked, “Did you use it?” the teenager replied: “I didn’t.” 

Asked if he had been drinking that night, he said: ‘No’. 

Asked if he had “taken anything”, he also said no. 

And asked about how he got on with people generally and if he had any difficulties with people at the time, he said: “I’m not fighting or arguing with anyone, I am friends with most people.” 

The trial continues.