![\"Josip](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Josip-Strok.png\")
Josip Strok<\/p>\nJosip Strok, 31, died after being brutally beaten in an attack in Clondalkin in April 2024<\/p>\n
09:46, 15 Oct 2025Updated 09:50, 15 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
Josip Strok<\/p>\n
Three men accused of “brutally and savagely” beating a Croatian man to death on a Dublin<\/a> street knew that their alleged victim was a foreign national when they chased him down, a barrister has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court.<\/p>\n Seoirse O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing SC told the murder trial jury that 31-year-old Josip Strok’s status as a foreign national has relevance in the case of the three men accused of his murder. Counsel said that one of the accused, Mark Lee, 44, told Gardai\u0301 two days after the alleged assault that he had had been walking “up and down with two dogs” outside an International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre “waiting on [a] foreign c**t attacking a kid with a knife”.<\/p>\n Mr O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing said the prosecution believes this comment is relevant to what the jury must consider. It is further alleged that Mr Lee sent a voice note to a friend hours after the assault, stating: “Pal, be there in 20 minutes. Just smashed Polish lads up and left them for dead because they beat [a] kid.”<\/p>\n The trial also heard on Tuesday that Mr Strok was targeted after he was alleged to have assaulted a 17-year-old boy at a bus stop following a row over a cigarette lighter. 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<\/a> on April 3, 2024.<\/p>\n 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 Strok’s friend, David Druzinec, 29, at the same location. It is alleged that the three accused assaulted Mr Druzinec and Mr Strok on March 30, 2024 and that Mr Strok died four days later from blunt force injuries sustained in the attack.<\/p>\n Opening the trial on Tuesday morning, Mr O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing told the jury of six men and six women that the prosecution intends to prove that the three accused were part of a joint enterprise to cause serious harm to Mr Strok when they “brutally and savagely attacked” him. On the afternoon of March 30, 2024, Mr Strok and Mr Druzinec were drinking heavily, counsel said. That evening, they made their way to Clondalkin Village, where they waited for a bus to take them close to where Mr Druzinec lived in the Grangeview estate.<\/p>\n At the bus stop, Mr O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing said the two Croatian men had an altercation with a 17-year-old boy, who was assaulted following a row over a cigarette lighter. The 17-year-old told three other youths what had happened and they got on the bus with Mr Strok and Mr Druzinec.<\/p>\n When the bus stopped, the two Croatians and the three youths got off without interacting with one another. Two of the youths, counsel said, met the accused man, Mark Lee. Mr O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing said it is the prosecution case that the boys told Mr Lee that a young person had been assaulted over a lighter.<\/p>\n Mr Lee immediately went into his house and emerged 47 to 50 seconds later with Mr Rafferty and Mr Delappe, counsel said. Mr Delappe, he said, had an implement in his hand.<\/p>\n They chased the two Croatian men and assaulted them, Mr O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing said. Mr O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing told the jury that a joint enterprise can be formed in an instant and “something happened in that house that caused these three to emerge”.<\/p>\n Mr O\u0301 Du\u0301nlaing said audio recording from a CCTV system nearby did not reveal any reference to a “non-national or foreigner”, but he said the voice note left by Mr Lee on a friend’s phone later that night is relevant. “The prosecution says that they [the accused] knew they [the injured parties] were foreign nationals and that has relevance in this case.”<\/p>\n He said comments made by Mr Lee to Gardai\u0301 about walking up and down outside an IPAS centre with two dogs are also relevant. The trial continues before Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and the jury.<\/p>\n Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link<\/a> to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n