Murder trial jury hears 999 call

A frantic 999 call made by the girlfriend of a man killed during a row with his father was played in court for a murder trial jury at the Central Criminal court today.

"My boyfriend's been stabbed by his father" Ms Kelly Richardson (aged 23), was heard telling the emergency services from a public phone box outside the court in Edenderry, Co Offaly in the early hours of Monday 15 November 1999.

When ambulance technician Mr Eddie Carney asked if the injured man was able to talk, Ms Richardson replied "as soon as this happened he started getting weak".

She said he had been stabbed in the chest "near his armpits on the left hand side".

"There's very serious bleeding, it's all over him" she was heard saying.

The tape was played by the prosecution on the fifth day of the trial of Mr Thomas Groome (aged 47) for the murder of his son Mr Christopher Groome (aged 19) at Churchview Heights, Edenderry, Co Offaly on 15 November 1999. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The jury heard a second call from Ms Richardson made from a mobile phone back at the caravan where her boyfriend lay dying on the floor.

In a statement read out by the prosecution, Mr Carney said he could hear the accused shouting for an ambulance in the background while he was giving first aid instructions to Ms Richardson: "I could hear a man shouting 'where’s the ambulance? Get the ambulance out here'," he said.

The jury heard Mr Carney saying to Ms Richardson "tell that man to stop shouting, the ambulance is on it’s way, it’s coming from Tullamore, it can’t go any faster".

The frantic efforts of the accused and Ms Richardson to save Christopher Groome’s life were heard as they struggled to give him CPR and stop the bleeding.

"He’s gone very cold, he’s not breathing" Ms Richardson said. When Mr Carney asked her if they could feel a pulse on Mr Groome’s neck, she replied "no".

Earlier Detective Garda Kevin Brooks identified the blood-splattered scene of the crime by showing photographs to the jury.

He pointed to some cold burgers abandoned in a frying pan, some "bloodstains on the top of the duvet" of a single bed and more bloodstains running down a mirror over the fireplace.

He concluded that the extensive blood staining occurred "after the incident" due to both the "confined area of the caravan" and "attempts at resuscitation".

A neighbour of the accused, Mr Sean Darby testified that he heard the accused shouting for an ambulance around 4am that morning.

"Tommy was knocking at the door to get an ambulance" he said. He roused another neighbour and they went down to the Garda station to raise the alarm."

He described the accused as "very upset" when he saw him later:

"He was very upset, he was kinda crying. There was a bit of blood on his knuckles," said Mr Darby.