Row over lighter led to Josip Strok murder

By Eoin Reynolds and Ryan Dunne

Josip Strok and his friend David Druzinec had been drinking all day when they met a 17-year-old boy at a bus stop in Clondalkin and asked him for a lighter.

Mr Druzinec, one witness would later tell the Central Criminal Court, wouldn't accept that the 17-year-old had no lighter and began to mock the teenager before attacking him and dragging him into the street.

Mr Strok, embarrassed, dragged his friend away and waited for the next bus towards Mr Druzinec's home.

But the 17-year-old stopped to tell three other teenagers to be careful, that he had been attacked by the two men at the bus stop.

The three youths continued on and boarded the bus, keeping an eye on Mr Druzinec and Mr Strok and getting off at the same stop near the Grange View estate.

Once in the estate, the youths spoke to Mark Lee, a local man in his 40s out walking his dogs, who had strong views on foreign "invaders", as he called them.

When he learned that a young lad had been beaten up, Lee followed Mr Druzinec and Mr Strok, who were now speaking loudly in Croatian, before heading into his own home to drop off the dogs.

A CCTV system with audio capability recorded Mr Strok rebuking his friend as they walked, unaware that Mark Lee and Anthony Delappe were a short distance behind them, gearing up to deliver a brutal beating. A Croatian translator interpreted Mr Strok, referring to the earlier row at the bus stop, saying: "You're a completely different person when you drink. For God's sake, dude!"

Lee emerged from his house less than 50 seconds after he had entered, followed by Delappe, who was one week past his 18th birthday and had been in Lee's house to smoke cannabis. Delappe was carrying a hard plastic pickaxe handle.

Both men walked fast after Mr Druzinec and Mr Strok and were followed about 40 seconds later by Connor Rafferty, who had also been in Mark Lee's house smoking cannabis. Rafferty, aged 19 at the time, was carrying half a crutch.

Lee and Delappe caught up with their victims and immediately began striking them, Delappe starting on Mr Druzinec while Lee knocked Mr Strok to the ground.

Lee continued the beating by kicking Mr Strok in the head, stamping on him and punching him. Delappe left Mr Druzinec and joined in on Mr Strok, hitting him several times at full force with the pickaxe handle while Mr Strok struggled on the ground.

After Mr Strok stopped moving, Connor Rafferty (21) of Castlegrange Close, Clondalkin, struck him three blows with the half-crutch he had brought from Mark Lee's. Rafferty would later tell gardaí that he had only inflicted two or three "light smacks" on Mr Strok's back and had not intended to cause him harm.

Rafferty's barrister, Bernard Condon SC, told the jury that in bringing a murder charge against his client, the prosecution was trying to fix the actions of the two co-accused onto the then 19-year-old. Mr Condon reminded the jury that in his garda interviews, Mr Rafferty said he didn't mean to seriously injure anyone, apologised and said he was ashamed.

"Mr Rafferty is not a monster," counsel said, "he is a young, gormless eejit."

The jury accepted Rafferty's defence and found him not guilty.

Mr Druzinec suffered bruising to his face and required stitches, but made a full recovery. Mr Strok had suffered one particularly severe wound to the back of his head, which caused fracturing of the skull and a catastrophic brain injury.

State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers would say the injury was probably caused by the fall backwards onto the ground. The assault happened on March 30th, 2024, and Mr Strok was pronounced dead in hospital four days later.

Mark Lee (44), of no fixed abode, and Anthony Delappe (19) of Melrose Avenue, Clondalkin, had both pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of 31-year-old Josip Strok at Grangeview Way in Clondalkin.

Barristers on behalf of each of them said that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either man intended to cause serious harm.

A jury today rejected those arguments and found both men guilty of murder by an eleven-to-one majority verdict.

Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing, for the Director of Public Prosecution,s said in his closing speech that Lee and Delappe had pursued their victims after hearing of the alleged assault on a local youth.

Delappe and Lee knocked their two victims to the ground, and CCTV footage showed Lee repeatedly kicking Mr Strok in the head, he said.

As Mr Strok tried to defend himself on the ground, Lee delivered a "series of punches" followed by another kick to the head.

At the same time, Mr Ó Dúnlaing said, Delappe struck Mr Strok with the pickaxe handle. Mr Ó Dúnlaing described Delappe's actions as "overarm strikes with brutal ferocity" using a hard weapon.

While Delappe was striking the deceased, Lee "stamps on him with his left foot", Mr Ó Dúnlaing said. After the fourth strike with the bat, Mr Strok, who had been fighting back, stopped moving.

Mr Ó Dúnlaing told the jury that if the CCTV footage satisfied them that Lee and Delappe intended to cause serious injury, the appropriate verdict is guilty of murder.

Mr Ó Dúnlaing suggested Lee revealed his possible motive for the murder two days later when gardaí arrived at his home with a search warrant.

Lee told gardaí it was "terrible the way the homeless are treated" while illegal immigrants "run amok".

Lee also told gardaí he had been "walking up and down" outside an asylum centre waiting on a "foreign c**t" over an attack on a child.

While Mr Ó Dúnlaing said communities have a right to protest over concerns regarding proper consultation and whether things are being done in the "right way", he added: "There is a difference between protest and vigilante violence because you think a foreign national has assaulted two kids."

Mr Ó Dúnlaing reminded the jury that Mr Strok came to Ireland to work and contribute to society. "He clearly did not deserve what happened to him," counsel said.

Following today's verdicts, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring excused the six men and six women from further jury duty for the next nine years.

She said the jury had performed “a hard job, a thankless job,” adding that she was grateful for their attendance in court.

She remanded Lee and Delappe in custody until November 17th next for sentencing.

Mr Rafferty was remanded on bail to appear on the same date.