Death stare

Irishman John Binghan testified on Tuesday that his friendly attempt to speak to a man who was “pacing up and down and staring at him” ended with his friend Brian Mulligan being fatally stabbed eight and a half years ago.

That was the evidence Binghan gave in the No. 4 Supreme Court as the murder trial of Michael Oneal Beckles got underway before Madame Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell.

Mulligan, a British national, was allegedly murdered on June 15, 2014, by Beckles who was 54 at the time.

Binghan, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, gave evidence via Zoom.

Under questioning from Principal State Counsel Krystal Delaney, he told the court that he and Mulligan were in Barbados having been contracted to work for telecommunications company LIME.

He said he had met Mulligan eight weeks before his death and considered him a “good friend”.

On the day of the incident, Binghan said Mulligan and some other guys who were also contracted were at his house watching a World Cup football game between England and Italy.

He said after drinking a few beers, they all went out around 10 p.m. to K’s Bar which was opposite the cricket field in St Lawrence Gap.

Binghan said they were there for about two hours. He said after drinking more beers, some of them, including Mulligan, went to Hal’s Bar in St Lawrence Gap.

He recalled that after they drank some more beers they headed home.

Binghan said when they got to the area of the cricket field, a man who was on a BMX bike and wearing a “hat that was tall on his head” asked them if they wanted to buy some drugs and he told him “no”.

He said he had never seen the man before that night.

Binghan said they continued to walk in the direction of the houses they were staying at in St Lawrence Gap, but then stopped at another bar.

He maintained that neither he nor Mulligan was drunk at the time.

Binghan said he was sitting on a bench at the bar when he noticed the same man they had seen earlier on the bike pacing up and down outside the establishment staring at them.

As a result, he said he went over to speak to him and to ask him why he was staring at them.

Binghan said he extended his hand to give the man a handshake but the man walked off without shaking his hand. He said he then returned to the bar with Mulligan.

However, he said he realised the same man was still pacing and staring at him and Mulligan.

Binghan said he went over to talk to the man again to find out if they had done something wrong and again extended his hand for a handshake.

It was at that time, Binghan said, that the man “boxed him to the side of his face”.

He said after he was hit he was restrained by another man.

Binghan said he saw Mulligan walk past him in the direction of the man and moments later, his friend came back to him and told him he had been stabbed.

He said he then noticed blood on Mulligan’s t-shirt.

Binghan said he placed him on a bench and asked someone to call an ambulance.

He said a police vehicle eventually transported Mulligan to the hospital, but an hour later he was informed that he had died.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Mohia Ma’at, Binghan admitted he had “about three to four beers” while watching the football match at home and drank the same amount at all the bars they visited.

He admitted that Mulligan was also drinking during that time.

However, Binghan said at no point did he use cocaine or did he see Mulligan use cocaine.

Binghan also denied telling a staff member at the bar where the stabbing occurred that he was going to “punch the man in his face”.

Binghan said at no point did he see Mulligan punch the man either.

Meanwhile, the court heard from Sergeant O’Brien Speedwell, who works in the Human Resource Department of the Barbados Police Service, that two police officers who were part of the murder investigation have since died.

He testified that Sergeant Edwin Pinder retired from the Force on April 30, 2022 but subsequently passed away.

Additionally, he said, Constable Catherine Roach died on June 10, 2018, while in service. Speedwell said she was attached to the Forensics Scene of Crime Unit at the time of her passing.

As a result, Sergeant Richard Bailey, who is also attached to the Forensics Scene of Crime Unit, entered into evidence the photographs that Roach took in relation to the investigation.