Detectives track killer's escape route after Howth murder

Detectives were attempting tonight to retrace the steps of a murderer who brutally killed an advertising professional at her home.

As house to house inquiries continued on the exclusive hill of Howth, north County Dublin, forensic officers were examining a possible escape route used by the attacker.

Celine Cawley, a 46-year-old mother of one and successful businesswoman, was found yesterday lying on the patio at the back of her coastal home with severe injuries.

It is understood Ms Cawley was beaten about the head and face after she struggled with an intruder at the back of the gated house.

Her husband Eamonn Lillis told gardaí he returned home from his morning walk with the family dog at around 10am and found the attacker at the home.

Detectives have been told the killer ran from the back of the house into a laneway.

It is understood a brick, which may have been used in the attack, was found in the garden and was being forensically examined.

There was no sign of forced entry or robbery at the house and no arrests have been made.

A post mortem was underway tonight on Ms Cawley’s body.

Gardaí described the attacker as aged in his mid to late twenties, of slight build, around 5’10“. He was either wearing or carrying a balaclava after running from an overgrown lane at the rear of the home.

Ms Cawley was well known in media and advertising circles in Ireland after building her Toytown Films company into one of the country’s highest-profile production houses.

Set up in 1990 by Ms Cawley, Toytown has worked with a variety of advertising agencies and had clients such as Diageo, Coca Cola, Heineken, the National Lottery, O2 and Carlsberg.