In a current murder case, the jury heard that a man described as “benevolent” was lethally attacked in his personal residence after offering shelter to his alleged killer and his mother until they secured their own living arrangements. Brian Ibe, with no permanent address and previously hailing from Moore Park, Newbridge, County Kildare, and the Peter McVerry Trust in Dublin, pled not guilty due to mental incompetency to the murder of Peter Kennedy in Newbridge taking place between 28th April and 12th May 2020. Mr. Ibe, 23, also entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity to a charge of physical assault on Garda Brendan O’Donnell at the Newbridge Garda station on April 29th, 2020.
While introducing the case at the Central Criminal Court, state counsellor Fiona Murphy SC informed the jury of Mr. Kennedy’s altruistic nature and his service within the Probation System. In her address to the jury, she said that the case of the prosecution would show that Mr. Ibe’s mother had lived at Mr. Kennedy’s house with Mr. Ibe joining later, during the 18 month span leading to Mr. Kennedy’s demise.
Ms. Murphy stated that the prosecution’s case would show Mr. Kennedy growing discontented with Mr. Ibe’s conduct. Furthermore in December 2019, Gardai were summoned to the residence by Mr. Kennedy for verbal altercations. Ms. Murphy outlined that despite allowing Mr. Ibe to continue residing at his residence, Mr. Ibe decided to set off for Dublin. Mr. Kennedy permitted Mr Ibe’s mother occasional visits at the home after learning that she had been living in her car at certain times.
The prosecutor mentioned that in months leading to his demise, Kennedy was showing signs of distress which concerned his friends and was reported as being “unkempt”. The prosecution would reveal that on the night of the tragedy, Mr. Ibe travelled from Dublin to Newbridge using a taxi and broke a window to make his way into Mr. Kennedy’s residence and assaulted him. The mother of the defendant, who was in the house during the attack, fled the house; from outside, she reportedly heard Mr. Kennedy’s pleas for help and the pounding noises emanating from the house.
Ms Murphy stated that grave cranial wounds led to the demise of Mr Kennedy on May 12th 2020, in Beaumont Hospital. The legal representative declared that the jury would be informed that the DNA discovered on both shoes confiscated from the suspect matched the deceased’s genetic profile. Ms Murphy emphasised the cause of death was from blunt-force trauma to Mr Kennedy’s side and frontal skull. The legal representative confirmed that it was uncontested that the suspect was responsible for Mr Kennedy’s death. However, the jury’s task was to decide if Mr Ibe was experiencing mental health problems at such a level to justify a defence of not guilty on the grounds of insanity. The judicial proceedings are expected to continue for approximately two weeks, resuming on Thursday under the supervision of Mr Justice Paul Burns with a seven-woman, five-man jury.