TINA CAHILL TO BE SENTENCED FOR MANSLAUGHTER OF ‘MOTCHA’
FOR the family of David ‘Motcha’ Walsh, the past 20 months will have been a blur. Since the father of three from Moran Park was stabbed to death in Sydney, Australia, in February of 2017, they have marked what would have been his 30th birthday in his absence, hosted charity events in his memory, heard countless court updates and to make matters worse, in December of last year, David’s father John ‘Jonners’ Walsh passed away, following a lengthy battle with illness.
While the family have had to endure a torrid year, David’s case once again came back into the limelight last week after his fiancée, Cathrina (Tina) Cahill (27) from New Ross pleaded guilty to manslaughter, the charge having been downgraded from murder. The New Ross woman claims that she had been a victim of domestic violence.
The pair had just gotten engaged on New Year’s Eve and both families were looking forward to planning a wedding. Tragically, it never came to pass and just five weeks later David’s family were left to plan a funeral while Cahill’s family flew out to Australia to visit her behind bars.
Having been in custody since her arrest in February of last year, Cahill last week pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the New South Wales Supreme Court on the basis of substantial impairment. She was supported in court by her parents Daniel and Rita who travelled from New Ross.
The court heard that the newly engaged couple had earlier been out with other people at the Cock’N’Bull Hotel and the Doncaster Hotel in Sydney’s east. Earlier reports told how Cahill and another woman had brought a man they met in the pub home for a drink and it was alleged that Mr Walsh had attacked him. In the midst of this melee, it is believed that Cahill used a broken bottle or glass to stab her fiancé in the neck.
Cahill’s barrister James Trevallion referred to the need for the judge to be aware of the ‘extent of the provocation and controlling behaviour’ by Mr Walsh. Prosecutor Nanette Williams said the Crown accepted the plea to the less serious offence on the basis that Cahill was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time. Judge Peter Johnson is due to hear sentencing submissions on November 1 and no doubt the Walsh family will be anxious to finally have some closure to this devastating chapter.