Woman cleared of friend’s manslaughter but guilty of assault

A MOTHER of four has been acquitted of her close friend’s manslaughter outside the Rotunda Hospital two years ago.

Michelle Brannigan, 36, with an address at Hill Street, Dublin 1, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to unlawfully killing Tracey O’Brien, 31, at Parnell Square West, Dublin 1, in June 2009.

The jury took over four hours on day four of the trial to find Brannigan not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of assault causing harm.

Judge Tony Hunt had given the jury the option to deliberate on alternative counts of simple assault and assault causing harm in the event of an acquittal on the manslaughter charge.

He remanded Brannigan, who has been on remand on this matter for the past 15 months, in continuing custody for sentencing on Monday.

Ms O’Brien, whom Brannigan described as “more like a sister”, died following a row with Brannigan about the latter’s child. Brannigan said that initially she did not want to fight Ms O’Brien because of her medical condition — Ms O’Brien was HIV positive and had suffered from Hepatitis C and B — but fought back when Ms O’Brien hit her with her phone.

During the fight, a third party, Wesley Ward — who has pleaded guilty to Ms O’Brien’s manslaughter — pulled the two to the ground, which was when Ms O’Brien sustained a serious head wound.

Detective Sergeant Des McTiernan revealed that Brannigan said she later she tried to bribe Ms O’Brien, whom she described as “more like a sister”, with vodka so she would attend hospital for treatment after the incident.

Det Sgt McTiernan agreed with Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, that her client had answered all garda questions, declined a solicitor during interview and co-operated in a “fulsome way”.

He agreed Brannigan had “displayed concern about her friend” during interview and had said: “I’m worried sick about Tracey to hear she’s in Beaumont.”

Chris Pidgeon, a consultant neurosurgeon at Beaumont Hospital at the time, said that management of Ms O’Brien’s head injury had been “difficult”.

Dr Michael Curtis, the deputy state pathologist, said there was an 8cm fracture to Ms O’Brien’s skull, that the severe bruising on the front of her brain was consistent with it being propelled forward as the back of her head struck a hard surface, and that her liver disease may have contributed to the bruising.