GARDAÍ YESTERDAY arrested a man in his 40s for questioning about the death of a woman whose body was found with head injuries at her house in Midleton in Co Cork on Sunday morning.
Detectives arrested the man at a house in the Douglas Street area of Cork city shortly after 4pm yesterday and took him to Midleton Garda station for questioning about the death of 57-year-old Catherine Smart, a separated mother of three.
The man, who lives in Co Cork and was known to Ms Smart, was arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows gardaí to detain suspects for up to 24 hours for questioning.
The arrest came as gardaí continued with their technical examination of Ms Smart’s house at Bailick Court, just a quarter of a mile from the centre of Midleton town, where gardaí found her body shortly before 10am on Sunday after responding to an emergency call.
Supt Flor Horan of Midleton Garda station successfully applied to Judge Michael Pattwell yesterday afternoon at a special sitting of Midleton District Court for a 48-hour extension on Ms Smart’s house being declared a crime scene under the Criminal Justice Act 2006.
Under the Act, a Garda superintendent can designate an area as a crime scene for the first 24 hours, but when that period expires, gardaí must apply to the courts for an extension to the designation, and yesterday Judge Pattwell granted gardaí such an extension in respect of Ms Smart’s house.
Experts from the Garda Technical Bureau in Dublin had from early morning carried out a forensic examination of the single-storey mid-terraced house, where officers found Ms Smart’s partially clothed body on the floor in the kitchen area, close to the fridge.
It is understood that a post-mortem by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, who was at the scene on Sunday, revealed that Ms Smart had suffered serious injuries most likely caused by a blow to the back of the head. Gardaí were yesterday continuing to search for an implement or weapon used in the assault.
Gardaí were also continuing with door-to-door inquiries in the area as they sought to establish whether anyone had seen or heard anything unusual at any stage between 3am and 9.45am on Sunday, while they were also checking CCTV footage in town to check on Ms Smart’s last known movements.
It is understood Ms Smart had rung 999 and got through to Garda divisional headquarters in Fermoy around 5am on Sunday morning to say she wasn’t able to gain entry to her house, and gardaí from Midleton called to the house and assisted her in gaining entry.
Gardaí believe that the fatal assault took place in the house sometime between 5am and 9.45am, when the emergency services received a call from a man which led gardai to go to the house in Bailick Court where they found the injured woman.
Supt Horan confirmed there was no sign of a forced entry to the house, and yesterday he renewed his appeal to anyone who may have information that could assist gardaí to contact an incident room set up at Midleton Garda station on 021-4631324.