‘I could hear taunting... I was concerned for the child’s wellbeing’
Neighbour’s evidence in trial of woman accused of killing Santina
‘He was roaring. He was inconsolable’
A NEIGHBOUR of a woman on trial for the murder of a two-year-old girl said he heard the sound of a crying baby next door, as a female ‘sarcastically’ taunted her.
Karen Harrington, of Lakelands Crescent, in Mahon in Cork, is on trial at a Central Criminal Court sitting in the city, charged with the murder of Santina Cawley at 26 Elderwood Park in Boreenmanna Road in Cork on July 5, 2019.
At the time of the alleged offence, Ms Harrington, 37, was in a relationship with the father of the child, Michael Cawley.
Ms Harrington was living at 26 Elderwood Park in 2019. Her nextdoor neighbour Dylan Olney, who lived in number 27, said that when he want to bed at 2am on July 5, 2019, he heard a ‘commotion’.
He said that it sounded like someone was having ‘a tantrum or throwing stuff around’.
Mr Olney then gave evidence that he heard ‘repetitive banging’ and ‘almighty thumping’.
‘The walls are thin where I live. I went out. The accused person was smashing the sliding door open and closed. It was repetitive smashing open and closed.’
He went out of his apartment and swore at Ms Harrington, calling her a ‘dingbat’ and telling her to stop.
He warned Ms Harrington that he planned to call the gardaí. He said she replied, ‘go ahead and call them’.
He told the jury that Karen started shouting: ‘Call them. Call them. I beg you call them,’ and he added: ‘I was a bit freaked out by it. She was acting weird.’
He returned to his apartment. Mr Olney said that at one point, Karen appeared at his door asking for a lighter for a cigarette. He told her to leave.
Then he heard a child crying at her apartment. This was a cause of concern for him.
‘That alarmed me. I heard a child crying coming from next door at 26. It wasn’t painful crying – just crying. I was concerned. I didn’t think a child should be in that [condition].
‘I could hear taunting. The baby was getting worse. I heard what I heard. I was concerned for the wellbeing of the child.’
He said he could hear her [Karen] saying ‘poor baby alright’ in a ‘sarcastic’ voice. Mr Olney gave evidence that the child wasn’t being spoken to in a manner which would provide comfort.
‘I heard her saying “stop crying”. I think I heard her say “stop crying” or “shut up”. I made the decision to call the gardaí.’
The trial heard that gardaí responded to a call at 4.31am on July 5, 2019. When they arrived at
4.52am, there was no sign of any disturbance at Karen Harrington’s apartment and they left the scene.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Olney heard the sound of someone walking on the gangway. He went out and saw Michael Cawley, the father of the child.
‘I asked him: “What the hell is going on with your one?” He didn’t seem inebriated.’
Mr Olney said Michael Cawley went in to the apartment and he left in a distressed state shouting that his ‘daughter was dead.’ Mr Cawley asked him to contact the gardaí and call for an ambulance.
‘He was roaring. He was inconsolable. I was trying to console him. He was very distraught.’
Mr Olney called the gardaí. When they arrived, gardaí asked Mr Olney: ‘“What are we looking at?” I said “murder”.’
Earlier, the trial heard from Karen’s neighbour Aoife Niamh McGaley, who said that on the morning when Santina was found, critically injured, she heard Karen arguing with a person that had a deep voice, whom she assumed to be a male.
‘Karen’s voice was muffled but I could hear her clearly saying: “I am telling. I am telling”.’
Ms McGaley said that when she first met Karen she was a teenager. At 1.27am on July 5, 2019 Karen rang her phone, asking her to let her in to the apartment building. The code wasn’t working and Karen thought she had forgotten her key.
However, Karen found her keys and let herself in.
Ms McGaley said there was a disruptive neighbour in the apartment complex and when she heard arguing it was like ‘hearing rain outside,’ because it was such a common occurrence.
At 3am, she said she heard a man arguing with a woman.
The woman, who sounded like Karen, was saying: ‘I am going to tell them all. I am going to tell them all.’
She said she got up and went to Karen’s apartment. She banged on the glass of the sliding door. She said the situation was ‘completely out of character’ for Karen. Ms McGaley said she could hear muffled voices and a woman who sounded like Karen saying ‘I will tell, I will tell.’ She went to the main door of Karen’s apartment where she heard sobbing.
‘I started beating down the door. I was very concerned. I was kicking it (the door). She said: “Is that the guards?” and I said: “No, it’s me, you spacer”. She opened the door. She looked very distressed.
‘She kept apologising, saying: “I didn’t mean to be shouting and causing trouble”.’
She said Karen poked her head in a door in the apartment as if she was looking at something.
Ms McGaley saw no sign of anyone other than Karen in the apartment. She said she saw a mark on Karen’s face and noticed hair had been ripped out of her head.
She said it looked like a ‘chunk’ of it had been removed.
She also spotted that Karen’s Betty Boop statue had been smashed.
She asked Karen about the sound of breaking glass that she had heard and Karen told her that she had accidentally smashed a drinking glass in the kitchen.
‘At this stage I was tired and annoyed. I said: “Really? A drinking glass?” I didn’t believe it. She just apologised.’
Ms McGaley said that she got the impression from Karen that she was scared.
‘I got this uneasy feeling for her. I didn’t see anyone (else) but I wasn’t happy,’ she said.
Another neighbour, Martin McSweeney told the trial that he woke at around 3am on July 5, 2019, to the sound of a sliding door opening and closing 30 to 40 times. He heard a man saying ‘I am going to call the cops you dingbat.’
At 5am, he heard a man wailing and shouting ‘My baby is dead’.
He said at one stage, he thought Karen Harrington might have died as he heard the gentleman say: ‘My baby is dead’.
‘I thought “Baby” might have been a nickname for her.’
He had earlier seen her looking ‘drunk or on drugs’.
The case continues today.
‘I didn’t mean to be causing trouble’