Second youth's case upgraded to murder after fatal assault on Alex Coughlan

Tom Tuite

A second teenager has had his case formally upgraded after the Director of Public Prosecutions authorised that he and another youth will stand trial for the murder of Alex Coughlan in Dublin.

Coughlan (37) suffered serious injuries after he was assaulted on Mill Road, Blanchardstown, at around 4.20 pm on May 17th and was found unconscious.

He was brought to hospital and pronounced dead on May 20th. A post-mortem has established that Mr Coughlan suffered "traumatic" head and neck injuries.

Shortly after he passed away, gardaí charged two 16-year-old boys in connection with the incident.

The pair, now aged 17, were originally accused of causing serious harm to Mr Coughlan at Mill Road, under section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

They were also charged with robbing him of his bank cards and a €300 gold ring.

The duo, who cannot be named because they are juveniles, remain in the Oberstown Children Detention Campus, having been refused bail earlier.

The second boy was brought before Judge Peter White at the Dublin Children's Court and was further charged with murder. His assault charge was removed from the case.

Earlier this week, his co-accused had his assault allegation superseded with a murder charge.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed trial in the Central Criminal Court for the pair.

Books of evidence have still to be served on the boys, who have yet to indicate a plea, before they can be returned for trial. They are due back in court on Monday.

The matter will fall under the juvenile protocol, a measure setting a strict 12-month time limit to complete the trial process from the date of the initial charge.

An earlier bail hearing was told that Mr Coughlan had injuries to his neck area, scrapes to his knees and elbows, which corroborated that he was on his knees pleading with his attacker, and he had "no defensive injuries".

He suffered severe bruising, and there was evidence of alleged suffocation and choking.

Garda Sergeant Emma Ryan agreed it was a sustained assault, and video footage was available. She described it as a small snippet which was taken from one of their phones and "showed the deceased on his knees begging for his life".