Accused's sons give evidence at husband murder trial

A young Dublin physics student told a murder trial jury at the Central Criminal Court today that his mother, accused of killing his father, just kept saying what an awful thing she'd done and then broke down.

Mr Brian O'Neill said: "She said she'd killed my father. She was broken."

When questioned by Mr Felix McEnroy SC, defending, about their relationship now, Mr O'Neill said: "She's the person who brought me up. I love her."

Mr O'Neill (aged 23) was giving evidence in the trial of his mother, Dolores O'Neill (aged 50), who denies murdering her husband, and father of her two sons, Mr Declan O'Neill (aged 50) on or about July 22, 2002 at their home in Coolamber Park, Knocklyon, Dublin.

On the second day of the trial, Mr O'Neill told the court his father had not really been involved in his or his brother's lives for the final couple of years of his life.

He admitted to the court that sometimes he had to break up serious rows between his parents, and was in favour of them separating as a couple. "We got on much better as a family when he wasn't there," he added.

Speaking about his father's drinking, Mr O'Neill told Mr McEnroy that by July 2002 "it was out of control. He couldn't continue much longer the way he was." He said there was a constant state of tension in the house with the father always coming and going, but "I was pretty sure where I stood with him."

"I kept out of his way……once he ran out because of the way I looked at him." Mr O'Neill agreed that he didn't believe his mother's stories about getting various facial injuries by accident.

Nor did he believe her the night his father died when she told him her bruise was a result of her husband accidentally opening a door on her.

Mr O'Neill also told the court his mother was never a violent person and treated her sons well. "When I was younger, she used to tutor other parents on not hitting their children."

Mr O'Neill said that on the night of July 22, 2002, he returned from the cinema with his brother at around 11.40pm.

His mother was sitting in his father's car outside the house. She asked them to get in. He said he had to ask her a number of times before she eventually told them they were going to her sister Ann's house in Ashford, Co Wicklow.

"She just kept saying: 'No'. I kept thinking Declan had done something…hit her. I asked was Declan okay.

"She wasn't answering me." Later in the house, when his uncle, John Hughes, told him what had happened, he went upstairs to his mother. "She just kept saying what an awful thing she'd done. She just broke down. She said she'd killed my father. She was broken."

Mr O’Neill’s younger brother, Mr Conor O’Neill (aged 17) also gave evidence today. He told the court about his trip to Cork with his parents the weekend before his father died.

He said the night before returning to Dublin he heard a loud bang in his parents’ room and the next morning his mother’s face was bruised. He said she was holding her hand to her face when they went for breakfast.

Dolores O'Neill's supervisor at the time of the killing described her as a "very quiet, gentle person, whose voice was never raised". Sandra Kavanagh of the Equality Authority said Ms O'Neill "got on very well with her colleagues, who thought very highly of her".

She said had a high level of intelligence and was very competent. She added that the accused was "always on time, always there, very reliable and had a great interest in her work".

Garda David Connolly was one of the officers who visited the crime scene on the night of the killing. He told the court that from the door of the room he could see blood stains on the bed where the body was lying, on the floor, wall, and carving knife.

There was also blood on the ceiling. After leaving the house, Garda Connolly said he travelled with a colleague to the Hughes' home in Ashford, bringing with him the news that Declan O'Neill had been pronounced dead.

He said when Mr John Hughes broke that news to Ms O'Neill "she cried out loud". The garda also described the accused during the initial interview.: "She was distraught. Towards the end of the interview, she stood up and started pacing the room."

The trial will continue tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of six men and six women.