A Dublin man told a murder trial jury yesterday he smashed a bowl over his girlfriend's head, hit her with his fist and kicked her after she hid a piece of cannabis.
It was the third day of the retrial of Mr Larry Callaghan (34), of St Mary's Road, Crumlin, Dublin, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to the manslaughter of Ms Janet Mooney (29), between September 17th and 19th, 1996, at the flat they shared at Harrington Street, Dublin.
Earlier, Mr Callaghan said he was an alcoholic and Ms Mooney also had a drink problem and they both smoked cannabis. On September 17th, 1996 he and Ms Mooney collected his rent allowance cheque of £107 and went to a bar where they each drank four pints. They had another pint in another pub and bought 12 cans of cider before going back to the flat.
Ms Mooney drank six of the cans and then said she was going to Dolphin's Barn to get £10 worth of cannabis. She was away for two hours and when she came back he immediately rolled a joint using some of the cannabis. He brought a mattress from the bedroom and put it beside the fireplace. He said Ms Mooney started to get undressed and he asked her about the hash that was missing from the fireplace. Mr Callaghan said he grabbed hold of Ms Mooney's hair and shook her head. "I hit her with the bowl. The bowl broke on the back of her head. I thought I would frighten her. She wouldn't tell me and I struck her. I struck her with my fist on her face." Earlier the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, said Ms Mooney died from a subdural haemorrhage, bleeding over the surface of the brain, due to multiple head and facial injuries consistent with multiple kicks.
He said Ms Mooney also had six fractured ribs on her left side and two on her right. He said two of the ribs had punctured the left lung and the chest injuries alone, if left unattended, would have killed Ms Mooney if she had not died first from the head injuries.
The trial continues today.