Santina Cawley's father avoids jail for assaulting her killer who is to appeal conviction

Michael Cawley (pictured) "in a kind of rage, he picked the person who he believed – correctly as it is now confirmed – was responsible for the death of his daughter," the court heard. Picture: Dan Linehan

The father of murdered infant, Santina Cawley, attacked the woman responsible for the murder when he encountered her by chance on a bus in Cork city and he immediately presented himself at a garda station to confess his crime.

Now, Michael Cawley has been given a suspended jail term on the charge of assault causing harm to his ex-partner, Karen Harrington. It also emerged that Karen Harrington is appealing her conviction for murdering Santina Cawley.

Michael Cawley said through his solicitor, Frank Buttimer, that he should not have taken the law into his own hands and should have trusted in the court process. Karen Harrington was charged with murder at the time and has been very recently convicted of the crime.

37-year-old Michael Cawley appeared before Cork District Court where Judge Olann Kelleher sentenced him to 10 months imprisonment suspended on condition that he keeps the peace for the next two years. He pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Karen Harrington on January 26, 2021, contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

Sergeant Pat Lyons said the accused got onto a bus stopped at Merchants Quay, Cork, assaulted her and pulled her to the floor of the bus where he kicked her a number of times into the chest and stomach. Michael Cawley then went to the Bridewell garda station, effectively giving himself up to gardaí and admitting that he had assaulted his ex-partner. He also told gardaí why he attacked her.

Sgt Lyons said the entire incident on the bus was captured on CCTV and the injured party was medically examined a few days later and was found to have suffered soft tissue injuries to her chest from the repeated kicking that she had received from Cawley.

Sentencing

Judge Kelleher said: “It is a very unfortunate situation Mr Cawley found himself in but you cannot take the law into your own hands. And when he does so he has to suffer the consequences.

“It is a very serious charge, to attack a woman on the bus knock her to the ground and give her a series of kicks. He is a violent man. Albeit 18 years ago, he was convicted of assaults.

“And he is here again before the court today for Section 3 assault (namely assault causing harm).” The judge said the relevant part of the victim impact statement had to be taken into consideration.

The judge said Michael Cawley was a man who engaged in violence, including a serious incident where he got a three-year jail term back in 2004 – when he was 19 years old – on two counts of assault causing harm in his native County Clare.

“Having regard to all the circumstances of this assault which lasted a few seconds, I have decided in all the circumstances to impose a sentence of 10 months suspended for two years. He won’t get a second chance,” the judge warned.

Defence solicitor, Frank Buttimer, referred to Karen Harrington’s victim impact statement as a “so-called victim impact statement” containing matters which had no place in such a statement. 

Judge Kelleher said he took account of how the assault affected her but did not take into consideration other matters contained in her statement that were not related to the assault. The details of the extraneous matters in the victim statement were not revealed at the sentencing hearing.

The assault

Mr Buttimer referred to Mr Cawley’s belief at the time he assaulted her in January 2021 that she had killed his daughter. Last month, Karen Harrington was convicted of the murder of Santina Cawley and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mr Buttimer said that randomly and unexpectedly, Michael Cawley became aware that Karen Harrington – his ex-partner – was on a bus that was stopped at Merchants Quay at 7pm in the evening.

“He approached her in a burst or a momentary loss of composure and reason – because of the loss of his daughter and pending the trial. 

In a kind of rage, he picked the person who he believed – correctly as it is now confirmed – was responsible for the death of his daughter.

“There may be some degree of understanding as to why he lost his composure. The prior relationship between the parties had completely come to an end and there was no contact between them between July 2019 and the assault on board the bus 18 months later.

“The injured party (Karen Harrington) was out on bail pending disposal of proceedings in the Central Criminal Court – they were not in a position to go ahead due to Covid concerns. They were only concluded in the recent sittings of the Central Criminal Court.

“Having contested matters in full she was found guilty. In January 2021, this happened. It was a random, unexpected sighting of the complainant or injured party on board a bus.” 

Mr Buttimer said that immediately after carrying out the assault, Michael Cawley presented himself at the Bridewell garda station and told gardaí what he had done and why he had done it.

“He should not have done it. At the time of this event, Mr Cawley was under enormous personal strain. He knew there was pending proceedings. He knew he was going to have to attend the trial. Mr Cawley was – and remains – under medical care.

“He is coming through the far end of a very traumatic period in his life. He should have trusted the system rather than taking the law into his own hands. He does have family himself. There are stresses and strains in his own family. He is trying to rebuild positive contact with family members,” Mr Buttimer said.

Michael Cawley of Leeside Apartments, Bachelors Quay, Cork, was originally charged by Garda Conor Manton with assaulting Karen Harrington. She was jailed for life on Monday, May 16, for murdering two-year-old Santina Cawley.

The jury of 11 were unanimous in their guilty verdict against Karen Harrington at the Central Criminal Court. 38-year-old Karen Harrington of Lakelands Crescent, Mahon, Cork, denied the murder of Santina Cawley at Elderwood Park, Boreenamanna Road, on July 5, 2019.

She even opted to give evidence in her own defence – something she was not legally required to do – and used the opportunity to say: “I did not murder Santina Cawley.”