John Paul McDonagh murder accused 'feared for his family's lives'

John Paul McDonagh was fatally injured after a street fight on 11 April 2020

The man accused of murdering John Paul McDonagh told police he was "genuinely terrified" for his life and the lives of his family, a court has heard.

Joseph Joyce is accused of murdering 18-year-old Mr McDonagh during a street fight in Enniskillen in April 2020.

He told police he was "sincerely sorry" for his death and "for the loss his family have suffered".

Mr Joyce, 32, from Clon Elagh in Londonderry, denies five offences over the incident at Coolcullen Meadow.

At Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, the police officer in charge of the murder investigation said Mr Joyce was interviewed on six occasions.

During the first, on 14 April, 2020, his solicitor read out a statement.

In the statement, Mr Joyce said that on Saturday 11 April, 2020 he was at his Coolcullen Meadow home with his wife and children.

He said the McDonaghs lived in the next street over and their back gardens were close to each other.

"Throughout the afternoon we could hear them all drinking and having a party," Mr Joyce said.

He said shortly after 8pm he was in his back garden and could hear the McDonaghs shouting over at him, threatening to come over and kill him and "burn your house with your wife and you in it".

He said he wanted no trouble and appealed to them to leave the family alone.

"They were all drunk and this just made them worse," he said.

Mr Joyce said his wife Ellen was looking out the window and screamed that they were coming over.

John Paul McDonagh was fatally injured in the Coolcullen Meadow area of Enniskillen

"I feared the worst and grabbed a weed slasher that was inside my shed and went out the front door of my house."

He said when he got out on to the street he could see three McDonagh men running towards him, followed a few seconds later by several females.

"Gerard had something up his jacket and he said 'I'm going to shoot you.' I genuinely feared he had a gun and I thought he was going to shoot me," he said.

"Jimmy had a large knife which was about 12 inches long and had a metal handle, and John was armed with a spade or shovel, and they all approached me.

"I shouted at Rosie McDonagh to take her sons home but she just shouted 'kill the Joyce b*****d.' They all surrounded me and started to attack me.

"I was terrified. I thought I was going to die and I had to fight for my life.

"Jimmy was stabbing and swinging at me with a knife, maybe about 10 or 15 times. Gerard took out his hand from under his jacket and I realised it was only a bottle - but he threw it at me, narrowly missing my head and I dodged it.

"John was swinging the shovel at my head and at one stage nearly connected with it, but I managed to block it with my left hand and it cut open causing me to bleed quite badly.

"As they were all attacking me, I struck John in the leg and he moved backwards."

He said acting in self-defence he struck one of the other men on the leg as well.

"Once I seen they had backed off a bit, I took my chance and ran back into my garden. I was terrified they were coming after me so I jumped over the fence and ran away," he said.

'Terrified for my life'

Mr Joyce's statement concluded: "I deeply regret that John McDonagh has died as a result of the incident, but I did not intend to kill him or cause him any serious harm.

"I was genuinely terrified for my own life and the lives of my wife and children. I was being attacked by three men and was acting in self-defence."

The police officer revealed that after handing in the statement, Mr Joyce did not answer any further questions and remained silent over the course of a further five interviews conducted on 14 and 15 April 2020.

As well as denying the murder of John McDonagh, Joyce had denied wounding the deceased's brother Gerard, possessing a scythe-type weapon and a bottle of ammonia, and causing an affray.