Gardaí launch inquiry into violent death

GARDAÍ have launched a major inquiry after the death of a Cork widow who is believed to have been beaten and deliberately immersed in a bath of boiling water.

Bernadette Barnes, aged 47, who lived in Knocknaheeny before moving to Dublin some years ago, was found naked, scalded and covered in blood at her home in the capital on January 19.

She was discovered by binmen who were passing an alley near her flat at St Mary’s Terrace, off Dorset Street.

They had apparently seen her thrown out of the flat and then watched a man drag her back inside. They immediately contacted the gardaí.

When gardaí arrived at the scene they found her lying on the floor with blood on her head and feet and scald marks to other parts of her body.

She was immediately rushed to the Mater Hospital where doctors battled to deal with her injuries.

Ms Barnes, who was a widow, spent 10 days in hospital before dying of a heart attack at 7am last Sunday.

Medical evidence from a post mortem carried out by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy will be crucial to gardaí, led by Superintendent Malachy Mulligan, in establishing their case.

It is understood that they are already following a definite line of inquiry and are preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

If it can be ascertained that Ms Barnes’ heart attack was brought on as a direct result of her injuries then gardaí will be looking for very serious charges to be proffered.

Dublin neighbours of the dead woman described Ms Barnes as a quiet, gentle person who had not lived in the St Mary’s Terrace area very long.

“She was quiet, she didn’t speak that much at all,” one neighbour said. Another, who also didn’t wish to be identified, added that the dead woman was “softly spoken, quiet and gentle.”

Ms Barnes’s husband is believed to have died 10 years ago and after living in Knocknaheeny she decided to move to Dublin.

It is also understood that she also spent some years living in England.