A Dublin man who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Toyosi Shitta-bey after what is believed to a racial row has been acquitted on the direction of a judge.
A Dublin man who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Toyosi Shitta-bey after what is believed to a racial row has been acquitted on the direction of a judge.
Michael Barry (26) of Pigeon House Road in Ringsend denied he was party to the stabbing which led to the death of the Nigerian teenager on 2 April 2010 in Tyrrelstown, north-west Dublin.
The jury was told that Shitta-bey was stabbed in the heart with a knife on Good Friday two years ago after an altercation between a group of his friends and the accused with his late brother. The court heard this row involved racist abuse.
The prosecution said Paul Barry, who died last year, stabbed Shitta-bey – but that his brother Michael was also fully involved.
Justice Barry White dropped the case from the jury and requested the acquittal of Michael Barry, stating that the action could not be a joint plan as there was no evidence he knew his late brother was carrying a knife.
Barry was also cleared on a charge of producing a baseball bat during the row.
In dismissing the jury, Justice White said justice may not have been well served in the case because Paul Barry cannot respond to the charges.
He also cited lack of co-operation from a prosecution witness, one of Toyosi’s friends, who currently resides abroad and who refused to come to Dublin or testify via a video link.
