Sister and brother on trial, accused of murdering man she says 'was like a dad to me'

A woman accused of murdering a man at a senior citizens’ complex in Dublin has begun giving evidence at her trial.

Sabrina Cummins and her brother Kenneth, who are both from Ringsend Park in Dublin, deny murdering Thomas Horan in January 2014.

From the stand this afternoon, Sabrina Cummins told the jury about her difficult upbringing. Her father was an alcoholic and used to beat her mother and steal from her. She said she had to go out and beg to get food for her eight brothers and sisters.

Thomas Horan, the man she is alleged to have murdered, lived in a flat below Sabrina’s sister in Ranelagh in Dublin and she said they became close.

“He was like a dad to me”, she said.

At 63, Thomas, or Tom as Sabrina called him, was living at a senior complex at Cambridge Court in Ringsend.

His body was found there in the early hours of Jan 6, 2014.

Kenneth Cummins, who is also on trial for murder, claims his sister Sabrina beat and stabbed Mr Horan and poured white spirits, toilet cleaner and washing up liquid down his throat.

Sabrina blamed her brother during her interviews with gardaí.

The trial continues.