A Cork woman who was stabbed to death by her boyfriend was a "quiet, gentle kind of person", a murder trial jury heard yesterday.
Mr John Phelan, a barman at the Haven Bar in Cork, told the Central Criminal Court that he had known Ms Catherine Hegarty for 14 years. When he saw Ms Hegarty and her boyfriend, Don O'Halloran, in the bar on the night she was stabbed, they were not arguing and appeared to be on good terms.
Ms Margaret Griffin, manageress at the Left Bank bar in Cork, said that Ms Hegarty told her Don O'Halloran wasn't looking after her. She said she did not have money for drink and wanted some. When she left the bar she was sober and in control of her senses.
O'Halloran (27), an unemployed steel fabricator, of Ballincollig, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to the manslaughter of Ms Hegarty (33), from Whitechurch, at Gerald Griffin Street, Blackpool, Cork, between 11 p.m. on February 26th and 12.20 a.m. on February 27th last year.
The jury has heard that Ms Hegarty died after she was stabbed three times with a carving knife and her heart was perforated. The prosecution has claimed that O'Halloran stabbed Ms Hegarty after she called him names during an argument in O'Halloran's flat.
Mr Paul Foley told the jury that he worked in a chip shop on Gerald Griffin Street and knew the accused man. On the night of the incident O'Halloran came into the shop and ordered chips. He appeared to be normal and was not drunk, although he might have taken some drink.
Mr Patrick Walsh, a barman at the Left Bank, said that he had seen O'Halloran and Ms Hegarty in the bar on the night of February 26th. At one stage they left and Ms Hegarty returned alone, "quite upset, crying and visibly shaken". Mr Walsh said that the couple had no argument at the bar while he was there.
The trial resumes today before Mr Justice O Caoimh and a jury of seven men and five women.