Murder accused and victim had previous row, court told

A man accused of the murder of County Tyrone man Robert Wilkin had an altercation with him three days before his death, a court in Dublin has been told.

Alan Vial, 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, and Nikita Burns, 23, from An Charraig, County Donegal, both deny the murder of Mr Wilkin on 25 June 2023.

The body of Mr Wilkin, also known as Robin, was found in the sea at the foot of the Slieve League cliffs.

On Wednesday, Mr Vial's brother told court of Alan Vial and Mr Wilkin had "a bit of an altercation".

Bruce Vial said his brother called to his home with his co-accused Nikita Burns and Mr Wilkin on 22 June 2023, where the altercation occurred.

"They were aggressive towards each other...shouting at each other," he said.

Following the altercation, Mr Wilkin drove away after taking Mr Vial and Ms Burns' belongings out of the car.

The following Sunday afternoon, after the prosecution alleges Mr Wilkin had been beaten and thrown off a cliff at Slieve League, Alan Vial and Ms Burns again called to Bruce Vial's home.

The witness said Alan Vial wanted to clean his car and took a cleaning spray and two cloths from Mr Vial's utility room.

Alan Vial also used his brother's vacuum cleaner but when he returned it, it was "full of gunk" which Bruce Vial assumed was "red wine vomit".

Mr Vial and Ms Burns left, having told the witness that they were going to Letterkenny, the court was told.

Later that day, gardaí (Irish police) arrived and took the vacuum cleaner away.

A court heard from Damien McIntyre who owns a bar in Dunkineely in Donegal.

On Saturday June 24 2023, he recalled Alan Vial, another man he knew as Robin Wilkin and a younger woman whose surname he knew to be Burns come into the bar.

They arrived at about 23.30 local time and "seemed to have a bit of alcohol on them".

At closing time, Mr McIntyre said he was ushering everyone out when Ms Burns began talking about a minor argument that had happened in the bar earlier.

As she was talking, Mr McIntyre recalled Mr Wilkin using his fist to hit her on the arm.

Mr McIntyre told him "not to hit a girl" and afterwards Mr Wilkin "tried to make light of the situation and tried to shake my hand" before leaving.

The court also heard from Michael Molloy, who is a ranger at Slieve League and operates the gate at the lower car park, about two kilometres from the viewing point.

He said on 25 June, after the prosecution alleges Mr Wilkin had been thrown over the cliff, he recalled a car driving up with a male driver and female passenger.

They asked to be allowed to pass the barrier at the car park and drive closer to the top of the cliff.

Mr Molloy said he would normally say no, but allowed them to go up after the man told him that he needed to collect someone from the top who could not walk.

About 20 minutes later, the car returned and Mr Molloy noted that the man and woman were still in the car but they did not have a new passenger.

The jury spent Wednesday afternoon watching CCTV of the alleged movements of Ms Burns and Mr Vial on the night of the alleged murder.

The trial continues.