‘Come in here quick, I’ve been stabbed’
INQUEST OF JOHN LAWLOR HEARS OF HIS FINAL WORDS TO HIS BROTHER
‘ Tony, come in here quick, I’ve been stabbed.’
The heartbreaking final words of John Lawlor to his brother Tony on Christmas Eve, 2013, were recalled at his inquest in Wexford Coroner’s Court in The Amber Springs Hotel, Gorey, last Thursday afternoon.
In his submission which was read to the jury by Inspector Pat Cody, Tony Lawlor, who lived next door to his brother John on the Red Row in Ballinatray Lower, Courtown, recalled how John phoned him at 11.47 p.m. on Christmas Eve 2013.
Just before he got the call, Tony had heard three bangs outside, and then voices. When he went to go to his brother’s aid, he found another man, David Shanley, lying on the ground.
He explained that John, who lived at Bartres, Ballinatray Lower, had separated from his wife Melissa ten years previously, and she was now with David Shanley. ‘I know David Shanley had been haunting John over the divorce settlement,’ he said in his statement to gardaí which was read out at the inquest.
He asked Shanley where John was, and then looked in through the glass in the door, and saw a pool of blood. Unable to get access to the house, he phoned the emergency services at 11.51 p.m.
David Shanley had passed out on the ground, so Tony turned him on his side, and checked for breath. When he went out to the road to wait on the gardaí, he heard David Shanley tell others at the scene that he ‘went there to talk to him about Luanne’, John’s youngest daughter.
Their other brother Patrick gave evidence of identifying John’s body at the mortuary in Waterford on December 26.
A deposition read on behalf of Dr Philip Van Niekerk of the Caredoc service recorded that he was called to go to Courtown to verify a death. He arrived at 12.52 a.m., and saw Mr Lawlor lying backwards on a couch. He examined him and verified that he was dead. He left the scene at 12.58 a.m.
Garda John Cleary said that they got the call at 11.54 p.m. and went to the scene. They drove up and down the Red Row without locating the house, and then called to get Tony to come out to the road to meet them.
The patrol car drove into the driveway at twelve minutes past midnight. Garda Cleary checked on the man lying face down on the ground and verified that he hadn’t been stabbed, though he had blood on his clothes. Tony then told him that his brother John was locked in the house, and had been stabbed. The garda looked in the window and saw there was a lot of blood in the hall. He got permission from Tony to kick in the front door, and he found John Lawlor deceased in the hall.
He had a stab wound to his right leg below the knee. He found Mr Lawlor’s house keys upstairs and a trail of blood going down the stairs.
State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy was present for the inquest, and testified that she carried out the post mortem on John Lawlor on December 26. She said that he had received a single injury to a superficial vein, a varicose vein near the surface of the skin. It had been cut across, and this was the source of the haemorrhage of blood. The main vein in the leg was intact.
She said that such an injury would not normally pose such a threat, and death would have taken some time. She added that it was a slash wound, and there was no evidence of stab wounds or defence injuries. Bruising to his right hand suggested there had been an altercation. She determined that the cause of death was haemorrhagic shock due to massive blood loss.
Summarising the case, coroner Dr Sean Nixon said that before midnight, ‘some form of altercation took place between the deceased and another person.’ He said it seemed to have taken place outside the house, and Mr Lawlor then went inside and locked himself in. He then went upstairs before coming down again. He called his brother from inside the house, but his brother couldn’t get in to him.
Members of John Lawlor’s family were present for the inquest, and his daughter asked Professor Cassidy if an attempt had been made to tie the wound, could he have been saved. Professor Cassidy replied that it was a very unusual injury and it was hard to tell. She said that a varicose wound is difficult to clamp and it would need pressure put on it straight away. ‘It’s a difficult thing to do,’ she said.
Dr Nixon said he had been notified of criminal proceedings in the case and a verdict of manslaughter was determined by the criminal court. He said the verdict of the inquest jury also had to be manslaughter.
‘ Two local families in Courtown have been seriously affected by this tragic loss,’ said Dr Nixon expressing his sympathies and condolences to Mr Lawlor’s family and friends on their very sad and tragic loss. The sympathies of the gardaí and the jury were also expressed too. A spokesperson for the Lawlor family thanked everyone involved.
On October 24 last, David Shanley, (47), of Courtown Harbour, was sentenced to five years in prison, with two-anda-half of those years suspended, after he previously denied murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter. This plea was accepted by the State.