Woman pleads guilty to manslaughter of taxi driver

A 25-year-old Dublin mother, who has been on trial twice charged with murder, has had her manslaughter plea accepted by the State.

Claire Nolan of Sheephill Green, Blanchardstown was arraigned before the Central Criminal Court today charged with murdering a father-of-four by crushing him with her car.

Nolan pleaded not guilty to murdering the taxi driver in this son’s driveway on Wellview Grove, Blanchardstown, but pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. The prosecution accepted her plea yesterday, after two juries previously failed to reach a verdict in the case.

Her two trials heard that she drove into father-of-four Michael Duffy and crushed him against his son’s house on January 26, 2008. She told gardaí that she meant to knock down the 66-year-old’s son, Francis Duffy. It was one of the first homicides in which a car was used as a weapon.

Nolan, who was 21 at the time, had been drinking wine and taking drugs with friends in the house next door to Francis Duffy’s. She said she was told that this neighbour was tampering with her car and she went out to confront him.

Witnesses said they saw her beat him over his head a number of times with a baseball bat. She did not recall this but remembered breaking a branch off a tree in his garden. She said that Francis Duffy injured her hand with a knife.

Nolan left after this fight, got into her car in the next driveway, reversed out, ramming Michael Duffy’s taxi across the road into a pillar. She then crashed through Francis Duffy’s gates and drove into his driveway, crushing his father against the house.

She said she was trying to knock down Francis Duffy when his father jumped in her way.

“I did intend on knocking him down because he was after giving me the digs, the f***ing w**ker,” she said. “The man just jumped out of nowhere… He wasn’t even in the fight,” she added.

“I couldn’t brake. I couldn’t stop the car. I squashed the man against the wall,” she admitted.

Nolan then left in her car, which was later found on fire nearby.

She said she could not control her temper when drunk but didn’t mean to cause serious injury to anybody.

The trials heard that Mr Duffy’s spine was broken in two and he died of crush injuries to his chest associated with severe, non-survivable internal injuries.

His ribcage was deformed and depressed, he had multiple fractures to his ribs, breast and collar bones.

He had massive internal trauma: the sac around the heart was torn, the heart was crushed and the aorta torn apart.

Mr Justice Paul Carney directed preparation of a probation report and a victim impact statement ahead of sentencing on March 5. Nolan’s barrister, Brendan Grehan SC, said she had a one-year-old child and she was remanded on continuing bail until that date.