Trial hears about accused man’s conduct in University Hospital Waterford
The court heard that Roche scooped up the blood flowing from his neck, put it into his mouth and threatened to spit it at Gardaí and hospital staff.
The trial into the death of John ‘King’ O’Connor continued at Waterford Central Criminal Court on Thursday, April 30.
Wayne Roche, formerly of Dominic’s Place, Waterford, is accused of murdering Mr O’Connor at his home at 17 Cluain Fada, New Ross, Co. Wexford, on a date between December 30-31, 2024. Roche is pleading not guilty.
The 35-year-old is represented by John Byrne SC. Dean Kelly SC is acting as State Prosecutor. Judge Patrick McGrath is presiding over the trial.
On the fourth day of the trial the jury of eight women and four men heard from multiple Garda witnesses about the events of Tuesday, December 31.
Detective Garda Conor Walsh was the first officer on the scene at 17 Cluain Fada. He received an alert at 11.15 that morning and arrived alone to the address. Upon entering the flat, he encountered Chloe O’Connor, daughter of the deceased, in a highly distressed state. He saw her aunt Bridget Daly conducting CPR on John O’Connor, who was prone on the ground.
Det. Walsh told the court: “This man had multiple injuries. There was no sign of breathing or life.”
He noted that the man was cold, stiff and showed no signs of life.
Det. Walsh took the pulse of the victim and tried CPR to “to give Ms Daly a break”. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. As paramedics worked on Mr O’Connor, Det. Walsh moved both Chloe and Bridget out of the flat, knowing that it would need to be preserved as a crime scene. Minutes later, the paramedics pronounced John O’Connor dead.
The jury saw numerous exhibits taken and preserved from the crime scene, including a bloody work boot that was found on the kitchen counter and two knives. Photographs showed blood splattered from the landing of the flat entrance, walls, kitchen, sitting room and bathroom of 17 Cluain Fada. The jury will hear evidence about forensic analysis next week.
Wayne Roche was arrested at the bus station on the Quay in New Ross. Multiple eye witness accounts described Roche asking for a lift to Waterford to go to ‘hospital’ due to his injuries.
Garda Keelan O’Neill was on patrol that morning when he was alerted about the death in Cluain Fada. He did not enter the flat as it was being preserved for the technical investigation team. Chloe O’Connor told Garda O’Neill that Wayne Roche and Michael Bancewicz had been at the flat the night before, having a few drinks with her father.
Garda O’Neill then received a call from a local shopkeeper sharing her concerns about Wayne Roche. Roche had just entered her shop and had asked for a lift to Waterford. Garda O’Neill, accompanied by Garda Alan Tobin, drove in the direction of the Quay based on the shopkeeper’s tip-off.
Garda O’Neill apprehended Roche at the bus station and could see that he had sustained injuries. Roche pulled up his trouser leg to show a puncture mark on his calf.
At the bus station, Roche told Gardaí that he had spent the night in John O’Connor’s flat, had woken up with his injuries and left the flat. He claimed that upon leaving, he saw Mr O’Connor "asleep and saw his stomach going up and down".
Roche asked the Gardaí: “Why aren’t you looking for Michael (Bancewicz)?”
Roche was then arrested under suspicion of carrying out an assault contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Act.
Garda O’Neill confirmed to the court that he would have arrested Mr Bancewicz in similar circumstances.
Roche was conveyed to New Ross Garda Station and was deemed to be unfit for interview by the member in charge. An ambulance was arranged to take him to University Hospital Waterford (UHW).
Detective Garda Donal Doyle drove behind the ambulance while Garda Tobin accompanied the accused. Inside the ambulance, Roche made a number of abusive comments to Garda Tobin and members of his family.
At the A&E department of UHW, Roche refused to receive any medical treatment and shouted homophobic and racist abuse at Gardaí, security staff and medical staff. He called two security staffers “Muslim bastards”.
The A&E ward was extremely busy at the time of Roche’s arrival. He was triaged in a private room and began shouting "I need to take a s**t". Gardaí told him that he could not lock himself into a toilet cubicle as a safety precaution.
However, at one point Roche rushed into a cubicle and locked himself inside. Gardaí could hear an aluminum lid shut and the sound of glass breaking. Security were able to unlock the door from the other side.
The door opened and Roche was seen "sawing" broken glass into the side of his neck. He was quickly apprehended by Gardaí. He scooped up the blood flowing from his neck, put it into his mouth and threatened to spit it at Gardaí and hospital staff.
Roche then reached into his underwear to produce another glass shard and tried to scratch the other side of his neck.
Mr Byrne asked Garda Tobin how Roche was able to convey a glass bottle into the hospital. Garda Tobin said: “I don’t know, I wouldn’t have been privy to the search.”
Det. Doyle spoke about the time inside UHW, corroborating the events recounted by Garda Tobin. Det. Doyle told the court that Roche had to receive staples to his neck, but he ripped them out "not two minutes later".
Roche told the Gardaí he wanted to die "because he didn’t want to hurt anyone else".
Det. Doyle told the court that Roche asked him to shoot him and began calling him a "coward".
Det. Doyle said: “He said he wanted my family to die of cancer and he would rape my daughter.”
In court, Roche shouted at the Detective: “Did you have that recorded? Did you have a body camera on?”
The trial will reconvene on Tuesday, May 5.
