Trial of woman for killing of taxi driver continues

A Dublin murder trial has heard that gardaí did not respond to an incident that preceded the killing because they were too busy.

An officer from Garda Communications was giving evidence in the trial of a 25-year-old mother, who has admitted killing a 66-year-old taxi driver almost four years ago.

Claire Nolan of Sheephill Green in Blanchardstown has pleaded not guilty to the murder of father-of-four Michael Duffy on January 26, 2008 by crushing him with her car.

However, she has pleaded guilty to his manslaughter in his son’s driveway on Wellview Grove in Blanchardstown; the prosecution has not accepted this plea.

Garda Kenneth Kennedy told the Central Criminal Court today that at 1.23am, Blanchardstown Garda Station entered a call to an incident at Wellview Grove.

The court had heard that this call came from the victim’s son, Francis Duffy. In his opening speech, Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, said that this call was made before the victim arrived to the scene.

Gda Kennedy told Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that this call went out over the air, but no garda car responded.

“At night time, it’s very busy so there would be calls held,” he explained.

He said that the incident was supplemented at 1.47am with a statement that people were fighting on Wellview Grove. He was informed at 1.51am that a uniformed unit from Blanchardstown was on its way.

Garda Aisling Dooley testified that she and her colleagues arrived at the scene at 1.52am and found Michael Duffy lying on the ground.

She recalled that he wasn’t moving, his face was bruised, his eyes swollen and there was a lot of blood on his body. Neither she nor her colleague could get a pulse from him, she said.

Paramedic and fire fighter Paul Cahill said he and his colleagues were called to the scene at 1.48am and were there within two minutes. He said that a crew member mentioned that a car was involved and that there was a crush injury.

He said that Mr Duffy had all the signs of cardiac arrest and was rushed to hospital after six minutes of resuscitation had failed.

Francis Duffy’s former next-door neighbour and the defendant’s former friend gave evidence via live television link from Australia.

Marie Dutton Cunningham said that she, Nolan and two other friends were drinking wine and snorting cocaine in her kitchen that night.

She said she heard something outside, went out and saw Francis Duffy breaking into Nolan’s Nissan Micra.

“I think I just let out a scream and let them know in the kitchen what was going on,” she said.

She said that the others came outside and that a "punch-up" broke out between their male friend and Francis Duffy.

She said that she and this friend then went into another house to clean a knife wound he had sustained, and she presumed Nolan had gone home.

“I heard like a screeching of a car,” she said, adding that they ran outside.

“Then I seen Fran’s Dad … lying on the ground,” she said.

Ms Dutton Cunningham confirmed to Mr Grehan that some sort of sleeping tablets were also being taken in her kitchen that night.

“I know we were pretty wasted,” she said. “An awful amount of drink, cocaine and tablets were involved that day and night,” she continued, estimating that they drank six bottles or more of wine.

She said that she and Nolan had been good friends since they were about 15 but that she hadn’t spoken to Nolan since that night. She said that she emigrated to Australia three years ago and has had a lot of counselling due to the trauma of the incident.

She said Nolan had been an outgoing, chirpy person, but when asked to describe her that night, she said she was "off her head, so drunk".

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of seven men and five women.