Tipperary pensioner's wife and son tell murder trial about finding him unconscious in garage

Margaret Murnane and her son told the Central Criminal Court how they found Teddy Murnane unconscious after he went outside following a noise

The trial heard Teddy Murnane was found lying on the ground, with his legs near the garage door.

The wife of the pensioner who was killed when he arrived on the scene of a burglary in the garage beside his home tried to hold him and said prayers when she found him unconscious on the ground. Margaret Murnane gave evidence at the murder trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork on Thursday. 

32-year-old Seán Harding of Marian Terrace, Tipperary Town, denies murder but accepted that he unlawfully killed the 80-year-old, pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Teddy Murnane at St. Michael’s Avenue in Tipperary town on September 12, 2025. Seán Harding also admitted three charges related to burglary on the occasion.

Mrs Murnane said she was in the sitting room and her husband was in the kitchen and he went outside when he heard a noise. When she found him a short time later, he was lying unconscious. She put him on his left side in the recovery position and rang her son, Patrick, telling him to come home, saying that she thought Teddy was after having a bad fall.

“It was dark — I nearly fell over him. I looked down and he was lying on the ground, with his legs near the garage door. I said, ‘What happened, why are you down there, why are you lying on the ground?’ but I got no response whatsoever. There was blood at the back of his head and blood out of his mouth.

Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford expressed her sympathies to Mrs Murnane at the conclusion of her evidence, saying: “I am very sorry for your loss.” 

Patrick was home within five to 10 minutes of his mother’s phone call. Today he described what he saw on arrival: “At the side of the house my mam was leaning over my dad who was unconscious on the ground. She was panicked at that stage. 

"It was dark (around 9.30pm). He was breathing very laboured. There was blood around his head. I tried several times in a loud manner to make any kind of contact but it was (in vain).” 

Patrick Murnane rang 999 and at the time he presumed that his father had fallen. But he then noticed that the light was on in the garage, tools were scattered on the floor of the shed which was ordinarily very tidy and there was a black holdall bag on the floor that did not belong to him or to his father. 

He then said to the call-taker “there may have been a break-in here", and could she call the guards as well. He testified: “The ambulance arrived. It seemed like an eternity, but it was around half an hour/40 minutes, something like that but I couldn’t be sure. The guards arrived pretty quick. About 10 minutes after (the 999 call).” 

Several days later, Patrick returned to the garage and found several tools missing, including a strimmer, sander, drills and angle-grinders.

Cross-examined by defence senior counsel, Dean Kelly, he said his father was reasonably fit for his age and they had been working together on some DIY jobs like sanding doors before hanging them in the house. “He used to go for a walk every day. I wouldn’t say he was running around by any means,” he said.

Sergeant Chris McGrath was one of the first officers at the scene and he said there was a pillow under the deceased’s head and a blanket over him as he lay on his side. “There was quite a large pool of blood on the path. There was blood in his ear and his nose. His right eye was swollen and purplish red, I think it was his right eye,” he said.

Sgt McGrath did an initial scan of the area for the appearance of any CCTV cameras and he called to one house neighbouring the Murnane’s house where there was a camera recording at the relevant time. On examination, Seán Harding was seen walking towards the Murnane house with a holdall bag and two minutes later he was seen running back with no bag in his hand.

Dean Kelly said the defence agreed that it was Mr Harding on this CCTV and he commented: “Whatever happened, it occurred within that two minutes.” 

Paramedic Mark Wiliiams said Mr Murnane was lying on his left side, unresponsive. “There was lots of swelling around his eye, blood and vomit around his mouth,” Mr Williams said.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and the jury of seven women and five men and is expected to finish before November 13.