'Scissor Sisters' mother in tears as lawyers plead for leniency

The mother of the notorious 'Scissor Sisters' today broke down sobbing as lawyers pleaded for leniency over her role in covering up the gruesome killing of her African boyfriend.

Kathleen Mulhall faces up to 10 years behind bars for cleaning up the murder scene after her daughters bludgeoned and knifed to death Farah Swaleh Noor four years ago.

Her daughters Linda and Charlotte Mulhall are both in jail for killing the Kenyan after a heavy drinking session at her Dublin flat.

The 53-year-old’s barrister Hugh Hartnett SC said his client had been abused by her parents, husband and later Mr Noor but had never had never fallen into trouble and had no convictions.

“Not to take it (the abuse) into account would be an outrage against justice,” he told Dublin’s Central Criminal Court.

The lawyer said the mother of six had suffered bouts of depression but had thrown herself into religion since being taken into custody earlier this year.

“She was abused as a child by her father and indeed her mother,” Mr Hartnett said.

“Despite that she never got into trouble and got married at a very, very young age.”

The court heard Mrs Mulhall had denied any knowledge of the murder but eventually admitted to investigating gardai she had stayed silent to protect her children.

She also offered to take the blame for the killing to protect her daughters.

Mr Hartnett said his client had tried to do her “level best” for her family.

Earlier Mrs Mulhall, who was dressed in a black jacket, trousers and white lace top, her head bowed, broke down and sobbed as details of the killing were recounted.

The court heard Mrs Mulhall claimed to have only realised Noor was dead the day before she was arrested in August 2005 – five months after the killing at her flat in Richmond Cottages, Ballybough, Dublin.

She told gardaí her daughters and herself had been drinking and taking tablets on the night of the murder when a row broke out between Noor and Linda.

She was not involved in the killing and only realised Noor was dead when Linda came out of the bedroom covered in blood.

She said she had cleaned up the flat the next day with her daughters.

Following the interview she was released from garda custody and left the country, settling in London where she was eventually tracked down in February 2008 through the Metropolitan Police and social welfare records. She then voluntarily returned to Ireland.

Mr Justice Carney adjourned the sentencing hearing until Friday at Cloverhill Court and requested a transcript of the short hearing.

More than two years ago Charlotte Mulhall was found guilty of murdering the Kenyan and jailed for life.

The 26-year-old prostitute and mother of one later lost an appeal against her conviction.

Linda Mulhall, 33, was jailed for 15 years for manslaughter.

Sentencing the sisters in December 2006, Mr Justice Carney said the case was the most grotesque of killings that had occurred within his professional lifetime.

Mr Noor’s severed head and penis have never been found.