Murder accused Derek Boyd tells jury he 'begged' deceased to leave his home
Alison O'Riordan
Murder accused Derek Boyd has taken the stand at his trial, telling a jury how he picked up a knife and "begged" a man he'd been drinking with just moments earlier to leave his home, only for the deceased to repeatedly threaten to kill him.
"He told me 'I'll stick the knife up your hole'", Boyd said of the deceased Mark Carroll.
The accused man said that Carroll grabbed him and, during a struggle, tried to take the knife. Boyd said he managed to "break free" and swung the knife at least three times, but never intended to kill or seriously injure Carroll.
The 31-year-old defendant also apologised to Carroll's family, saying: "Sorry; I never intended to harm Mark or have an altercation with him".
Giving evidence on Thursday, Boyd told his defence counsel Brendan Grehan that in 2022 there was "a terrible incident" with his sister Sandra. He said he had pleaded guilty to his sister's manslaughter and was serving part of that suspended sentence when the incident happened with Mark Carroll.
Boyd said there had been an issue with a neighbour on June 8th, 2024 and he contacted his relative to see if he could resolve the problem. However, the relative wasn't available that day and said he "would send down" Mark.
The accused told the jurors he knew Mark, but not relatively well, saying: "I would have known he was a violent person and could handle himself".
Boyd said when he later texted the deceased to let him know he was no longer needed, Mark and his girlfriend Megan Rock were already en route to his house.
Boyd said they drank in his home with the accused's partner Chantelle Harcourt. He said Mark, Megan and himself had taken cocaine and described the atmosphere as very good.
However, the accused said the atmosphere later turned "very bad" and he asked Mark and Megan to leave at least two to three times before they did.
Boyd said he had tidied up the kitchen and was sitting down at the table when he heard the handle of the hall door opening. When the accused stood up, he saw Mark coming back into his house and said the deceased looked in "a very bad mood".
The accused said he asked Mark to leave his house, but an argument started straight away and Mark had threatened him. "He wouldn't leave, I was begging him, he wasn't having any of it....he was telling me 'I'm going to kill you, who do you think you are'," said Boyd.
"He kept saying I'm going to kill you over and over again," continued Boyd.
The accused said he didn't want to get into a confrontation and was trying to back away but that Mark was coming towards him. "I seen Mark turn his head...we both looked at the same time, there was a knife on the kitchen counter, it was closer to me, I knew what his intentions were".
Boyd said he picked up the knife and begged Mark to leave and get out, but the deceased had refused. "He told me 'I'll stick the knife up your hole'..then Mark grabbed me, he lunged at me and grabbed me by the wrist... it turned into a wrestle...a struggle for the knife. I'm trying to get away from Mark and he is trying to take the knife from me".
Asked by Grehan why he didn't let Mark have the knife, Boyd said he knew what Mark was going to do with it. The accused said they were both grappling with each other and he had asked Mark "to call it quits and just stop".
The accused said Mark told him he was going "to cut your throat with this".
Boyd said he managed to "break free" from Mark and swung the knife at least three times, but wasn't sure if it had connected or not. The accused said he dropped the knife in the kitchen when Mark ran out of the house.
Asked why he ran after Mark, the accused said he just wanted him out of his house and not near his family. "I ran after him just to make him leave my road".
Asked what contact he had with Megan, the accused said Megan thought he was going to attack her, and she had dropped to the floor but he had pulled her up.
Boyd said he discarded the knife as he was in "pure panic". He clarified that another much bigger knife inside his front door was used to cut rope for his children's pony.
When Grehan asked if he had intended to injure Mark, the accused said: "No, I never wanted or intended to injure him. I never intended to kill him ever. All I set out to do was have a peaceful drink".
He added: "I picked up the knife as I thought Mark was going to take my life in my own home".
Sean Guerin, prosecuting, began his cross-examination of Boyd by telling him that he had chosen to misrepresent Carroll to gardaí as a violent and dangerous man to make his own actions more understandable. The accused said this was "totally incorrect".
Asked whether the death of his sister had been discussed that night and if it has any effect on him when raised in conversation, Boyd described it as an emotional subject, which has an emotional effect on him and brings tears to his eyes.
"When that subject is brought to your mind, does it make you think about the dangers of picking up weapons?" asked Guerin. "Not necessarily, I try to blank it out," replied the accused.
Counsel asked the defendant what firearm he had when he killed his sister. Boyd said he could not be sure as he doesn't really know firearms.
Guerin said it was a semi-automatic pistol; "a weapon used for killing people", which the accused agreed with.
"Not only did you have it, you had ammunition for it and had it loaded. Was that for the purpose of protecting yourself?" asked Guerin, which the accused agreed with.
"And the accident referred to as the killing of your sister was that you discharged that pistol inside your house accidentally while trying to unload it?" asked counsel, which the accused also agreed with.
The accused agreed that he had intentionally picked up the knife knowing it was a weapon as he didn't want Mark to have it.
Guerin put it to the accused that if Mark had come back to the accused's house for the purpose of harming him, then the deceased could have picked up the knife at the front door, which the accused agreed with.
Counsel put it to Boyd that he did not tell gardaí that Mark had threatened to kill him. "I thought that part was sort of self-explanatory," the accused replied.
Guerin put it to the accused that he had realised his statement was not very convincing and had tried to improve it before the jury, which Boyd disagreed with.
Asked if he remembered the physical sensation of "driving" the knife two inches deep into Mark's sacrum and burying the weapon in the bone, the accused said he hadn't noticed that.
"Did you stab him in the back as he ran for his life?" asked counsel. The accused said he had just swung the knife to protect himself.
Earlier, Ms Justice Melanie Greally told the panel she had reached the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to support count two on the indictment in relation to the charge of Mr Boyd making a threat to kill.
Mr Boyd had pleaded not guilty that on June 9 at Scribblestown Place, Finglas in Dublin 11 he did without lawful excuse make to Megan Rock a threat to kill her or cause her serious harm, intending her to believe the threat would be carried out.
The judge told the jurors that when they receive the issue paper in due course they would see a verdict of "not guilty by direction of the trial judge" already entered beside count two.
Boyd (31), with an address at Scribblestown Place, Finglas in Dublin 11 has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mark Carroll (34) at his home on June 9, 2024.
Boyd has also pleaded not guilty that on the same occasion he assaulted Megan Rock, causing her harm.
Boyd's partner Chantelle Harcourt (34), of Primrose Grove, Darndale in Dublin 17 has pleaded not guilty on the same date at Blanchardstown Garda Station, in circumstances where another person had committed an arrestable offence, namely murder, and knowing or believing that person to be guilty of that offence or of some other arrestable offence, did without reasonable excuse an act with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of the said person.
The trial continues tomorrow before Ms Justice Greally and a jury of seven men and five women.
