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

A 17-year-old male, who can’t 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 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 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.”

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 Daly outside his home in Doneraile at around 2am on 12 October 2025.

Caelan Jones said that he and his three friends spotted the body of Daly on the ground. Jones said that he knew that 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 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 Daly on the ground. He checked for a pulse but couldn’t detect one. He said that it was “obvious that he was deceased.”

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

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

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