Man who admits killing but denies murdering mother accepts he caused fractures to her skull

Alison O'Riordan

A man who admits killing but denies murdering his mother accepts that he caused multiple fractures to her skull and that he left a blood-stained footprint on her back, a trial jury has heard.

Garret Baker SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the panel would also hear that the accused Luke Donnelly (29) was behaving in "an erratic way" before the killing, including by repeatedly asserting that he was 'Jesus Christ' and the son of God.

Mr Donnelly, of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Catherine Henry (62) at her apartment on Bridge Street in Dundalk, Co Louth, on a date unknown between May 23rd and 24th 2023.

Opening the prosecution’s case at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, Mr Baker told the jury that the victim in the case is the accused's mother.

Counsel said Mr Donnelly is accepting responsibility for killing his mother, and the ultimate question for the jurors' determination at the end of the case is whether the accused had murdered her.

Outlining the facts of the case, Mr Baker said the accused had been in a long-term relationship with Stacey Campbell, and they had a child together. Counsel said Ms Henry had stayed with Ms Campbell and her son in Drogheda on May 22nd.

Erratic behaviour

The lawyer said Ms Campbell recalled that prior to this, Mr Donnelly was behaving in an erratic way, including by repeatedly asserting that he was 'Jesus Christ' and the son of God.

Counsel said Ms Campbell's evidence would be that in the early hours of May 23rd, the accused contacted her by phone multiple times, indicating he was coming over to her Drogheda address.

Counsel said there was banging on the door from the accused at 7am, and the jury would hear that Mr Donnelly had tried to push his way in, but Ms Henry managed to get him out, and gardaí were called.

CCTV footage, the court heard, will show that Mr Donnelly left the house that morning after "being effectively ejected" and got a bus to Dundalk, where he made his way to his mother's address on Bridge Street.

Counsel said Mr Donnelly had been living at his mother's apartment from time to time.

The prosecution barrister went on to tell the court that Ms Henry returned to her apartment an hour later, around 9.45am on May 23rd. "She was never seen alive again," he added.

No contact

The following day, he said, concerns started to build due to no one having contact with Ms Henry over the intervening period.

The jurors, he said, would hear evidence from Mr Liam Reed, who was asked to check on Ms Henry. Counsel said Mr Reed had called over to the apartment on Bridge Street on the evening of May 24th and went inside, where he discovered Ms Henry's "lifeless body".

The court will also hear evidence from a State pathologist who had conducted a postmortem on May 25th. Mr Baker said Dr Heidi Okkers had found extensive blunt force trauma to Ms Henry's face and head.

Counsel said Ms Henry had sustained multiple fractures to her skull, including one to the left temporal bone, which the pathologist found might have been caused by "stomping or a kicking type of impact".

Mr Baker said Ms Henry's cause of death was severe blunt force trauma to the head with no contributory factors.

He explained that the State’s case would be that Mr Donnelly had gone to his mother's address on Bridge Street early on the morning of May 23rd, and it is the prosecution's contention that the deceased was murdered at that location.

Mr Baker said the prosecution will also contend that Mr Donnelly had disposed of personal items belonging to Ms Henry, including her phone and a SIM card.

The court will also hear technical evidence, the lawyer said, that a partial bloody footprint was located on the back of the victim's body, on an item of clothing Ms Henry was wearing at the time.

Counsel also told the jury that the accused's sister, Kathleen Donnelly, had been in contact with her brother on May 23rd.

Mr Baker said Ms Donnelly had concerns with the accused's mental health and drove him to St Loman's Hospital in Mullingar.

The lawyer said the accused had left his footwear in the car and walked into the hospital barefoot to be "closer to God and feel nature".

Conall MacCarthy SC, defending Mr Donnelly, made nine admissions on behalf of the accused, including that Ms Henry's death was caused from severe blunt force trauma to the head, which was inflicted by Mr Donnelly.

Other admissions were that the accused was wearing 'Nike React' runners while present at Bridge Street and that the runners had been retrieved from a 'Santa Fe' motor vehicle.

Mr MacCarthy also said that the blood-stained footprint on the deceased's outer garment belonged to Mr Donnelly and that the blood present on the heel of the left Nike runner matched Ms Henry's.

The defence counsel also told the jury that property seized from a bin at the bus station belonged to Ms Henry.

The trial continues on Friday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven men and five women.