A man has told the trial of a teenager for the murder of a 44-year-old man that he saw “three shadows” and heard a voice saying that he “told him” that he would “kill him”.

A 17-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is on trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork charged with the murder of postman Barry Daly.

The father of five was found with catastrophic facial injuries outside his home in Rockview Terrace in Doneraile, Co Cork in the early hours of 12 October 2025.

The youth has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Daly.

John Glassett said in evidence at the trial that he had visited the house of a friend in Doneraile on the evening of 11 October 2025.

He left the house at around 2am on 12 October to walk to his home nearby. He said that he heard voices coming from the direction of the front side of Mr Daly’s property.

He heard a voice saying, “Come on, come on,” and then the person stated: “I told him I would kill him. He is sleeping in his front garden. Two blows.”

Mr Glassett said that he had no idea who uttered the words. He only saw “three shadows”. He subsequently completed his walk home and went to bed.

The trial also heard evidence from four friends who found the body of Mr Daly outside his home in Doneraile at around 2am on 12 October 2025.

Caelan Jones said he and his three friends spotted the body of Mr Daly on the ground. Mr Jones said he knew the 44-year-old was dead as “his eyes were bulging and there was blood on his face”.

He rang the doorbell of the Daly home and raised the alarm. He said that Mr Daly’s partner Katie O’Reilly ran outside the house. She tried to “wake him (Daly) up”.

Conor McSweeney said that he “panicked” when he saw Mr Daly on the ground. He checked for a pulse but could not detect one. He said it was “obvious that he was deceased”.

Conor O’Brien said that when they saw the body of Mr Daly in the driveway, he told his friend Caelan to ring the doorbell of the family home. Mr McSweeney checked for a pulse whilst their friend Dean Lucey called an ambulance.

Mr Lucey said that he contacted the emergency services. Mr Lucey said they had gone to the Daly property in a car to make sure that everything was okay.

The trial will continue tomorrow in front of a jury of seven women and five men.