A court heard yesterday the details surrounding the manslaughter of a man by his common law wife.
Mary O'Driscoll (52), of no fixed address, pleaded guilty before Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday to the unlawful killing of Mr Walter Black in Cork city centre on June 23th, 2002.
Sgt Seán O'Leary told Judge Patrick Moran that the defendant and Mr Black left the Simon Community hostel in Cork on the day of the incident and got two to three bottles of wine. They walked to Faulkner Lane in the city and drank the alcohol while sitting on the pavement.
At 4.20 p.m. a security guard patrolling the area witnessed O'Driscoll, a mother of two, smash a bottle over the head of Mr Black.
Both were "extremely drunk" but continued onto Academy Street. While walking, O'Driscoll threw her white runners into the street. As they passed the offices of the Irish Examiner, O'Driscoll grabbed Mr Black by the shoulders and forcibly banged his head repeatedly on a door. Witnesses then saw the man fall and hit his head on the side a concrete bin. While he lay on the ground, O'Driscoll stamped, in her bare feet, on Mr Black's head four to five times.
Sgt O'Leary said he believed O'Driscoll was "a source of danger to the public when she was drunk but not when she was sober". The court heard that the accused had ceased drinking in August.
Judge Moran said he would defer sentencing for a year so that the court could observe O'Driscoll's progress.