Dun Laoghaire baby inquest hears conflicting statements

The jury at the inquest into the death of a baby girl, found dead in Dublin in 1973, has heard a statement from Cynthia Owen's deceased mother, denying that she ever gave birth to a baby at their home.

Ms Owen claims that her mother stabbed her baby to death with a knitting needle and then dumped the body in a lane in Dun Laoghaire.

Statements from Ms Owen's brother and niece, who are also both dead, have been read out at Dublin County Coroners Court.

Cynthia Owen's mother, Josephine Murphy, who died last year made a statement to Gardai in 2005.

She denied that her daughter gave birth to a baby at eleven years of age in their home in Dalkey.

She also said she never knew who the parents of the baby, who was found dead in a lane were.

The jury has also heard a statement made by Teresa Murphy - Cynthia Owen's niece - who also lived at the house with her grandparents in Dalkey.

In a suicide note left after she took her own life she claimed that she had also been sexually abused.

The third statement read out was made by Ms Owen's brother Michael Murphy.

He said he had no recollection of ever being abused as a child.

He later disappeared and his bones were found two years later at Killiney Dart Station.

The cause of death was never determined.