Assault victim denies making up story about being racially abused

Eoin Reynolds

A man who was assaulted during an attack in which his friend was beaten to death has denied that he made up a story about being racially abused because he "wanted someone to pay" for what happened.

David Druzinec, 29, was cross-examined on Thursday on his evidence about the assault in which his friend Josip Strok, 31, lost his life.

Three men who have pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Druzinec are on trial accused of Mr Strok's murder. All three deny the murder charge.

Michael Bowman SC, for the accused man Mark Lee, 44, put it to Mr Druzinec that in his original statement to gardaí one day after the assault, he described being racially abused on a bus from Dublin City Centre to Clondalkin. In that statement, Mr Druzinec said four men aged 30 to 35 shouted at him and Mr Strok, saying: "Speak f**king English."

He further told gardaí that he got off the bus at a Tesco in Clondalkin to get away from the men, but then encountered them and three others at another bus stop, where he said he was pushed and threatened.

He told gardaí that the men then followed him onto another bus and continued to follow him when he got off near his home at Grange View in Clondalkin before attacking him.

Mr Druzinec accepted that CCTV did not back up that story. He accepted that he was not racially abused on the bus and that he was not followed by a group of men aged 30 to 35.

However, he denied making up the story, telling Mr Bowman that he told gardaí what he could remember at the time. After what happened to him, he said he was "mentally not even there" and was in shock.

Mr Bowman suggested that Mr Druzinec had "made up a story" because he wanted gardaí to think he had been the victim of a racial assault. Mr Bowman said Mr Druzinec had given a "self-serving" account that omitted the fact he had assaulted a man in a bar earlier that night and assaulted a 17-year-old boy at a bus stop in Clondalkin.

Mr Druzinec said he didn't remember assaulting the man or the 17-year-old and couldn't say why he remembered other things that didn't happen. He said he would not have made up a story knowing that there would be evidence to contradict it.

"I said what I thought in that moment was the truth," he said.

Mr Bowman said it was "perfectly understandable" that Mr Druzinec made up a story because he "wanted someone to pay" following the tragedy of his friend's death.

Mr Druzinec replied: "After what happened, I don't think what you can do is make up a story. I told police what I could remember in this moment... I was mentally not even there, it was the shock."

He repeated that he told gardai what he believed to be the truth.

Mark Lee, of no fixed abode, and Anthony Delappe, 19, of Melrose Avenue, Clondalkin, have both pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Josip Strok at Grangeview Way in Clondalkin on April 3rd, 2024.

Connor Rafferty, 21, of Castlegrange Close, Clondalkin has pleaded not guilty to Mr Strok's murder. All three have pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Mr Druzinec, at the same location. It is alleged that the three accused assaulted Mr Druzinec and Mr Strok on March 30th, 2024 and that Mr Strok died four days later from blunt force injuries sustained in the attack.

It is the prosecution case that the three men assaulted the two Croatians after being told that they had attacked a 17-year-old boy at a nearby bus stop.

Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, for the prosecution, said in his opening speech earlier this week that the accused knew Mr Strok and Mr Druzinec were foreign nationals and that has "relevance in the case".

The trial continues before Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of six men and six women.