‘CAHILL KNIFED FIANCE IN HEAD 16 MONTHS BEFORE SHE KILLED HIM’
AN Irish woman who stabbed her fiance to death during a row knifed him 16 months earlier, it was claimed in court yesterday.
Tina Cahill, 27, was also convicted of recklessly wounding David Walsh, 29, by throwing a glass candle at him.
A housemate of the Wexford couple, Isabel Jennings, said she saw the accused knife her partner “three to four times in the head” after a row at a house she shared with them in Sydney, Australia, on October 3, 2015.
The allegation about the earlier attack emerged during the sentencing hearing of Cahill who killed Mr Walsh in February last year.
She last week pleaded guilty on the basis of substantial impairment to manslaughter after the charge was downgraded from murder.
Mr Walsh’s family yesterday told how the victim’s father had died of a broken heart after losing his son.
His brother Patrick told New South Wales Supreme Court in a statement he suffers from nightmares that keep him awake at night, adding: “I cannot explain the feeling of loss and emptiness that has consumed us.
“My brother’s last breath was taken from him.”
Cahill claims the deceased was abusive to her in their relationship.
Ms Jennings told the court on the night of Cahill’s alleged first knife attack on Mr Walsh, she saw her walking up the stairs with her hand behind her back.
The witness said: “She then stabbed him three to four times in the head – it all happened so quickly.
“I just thought she was hitting him but after a few seconds, I realised she had a knife.”
Yesterday’s sentencing hearing was told Cahill, from New Ross, had a previous conviction for reckless wounding after she threw a glass candle at Mr Walsh in November 2015.
She was convicted of the offence in her absence and was ordered to undergo domestic violence rehabilitation.
Ms Jennings said she ran to the room and found Walsh crying and his forehead was bleeding profusely.
She added there was a big flap of skin hanging open from his forehead.
Witnesses said Cahill told them: “David threw a candle at me and I threw it back.”
The couple also argued on the night of February 17 last year, when Mr Walsh was killed.
They were out drinking with friends but a row broke out after someone mentioned how good looking Cahill’s SYDNEY YESTERDAY ex-boyfriend was. Mr Walsh became angry, calling the defendant a “slut” before leaving the pub. Cahill and her friends later went home, changed and went to another pub where they met a man called Matthew Hyde.
The girls received numerous calls and text messages from an increasingly Cahill at court in Sydney angry Mr Walsh who wanted to know who they were with.
They later returned to the house in Padstow with Mr Hyde and found the front door smashed and Mr Walsh lying on the couch. Soon after, the deceased repeatedly attacked Mr Hyde, wanting to know who he was.
Cahill tried to get a grip of her fiance’s arms when he swung it back and she fell to the ground.
The defendant punched him in the face before Mr Walsh pushed her and tried to punch her in the face.
Eventually, “the offender opened and closed the cutlery drawer quickly taking out a large, very sharp, bladed knife”.
One witness said over and over again “put it back” but Cahill replied: “No, he needs to be taught a lesson. It’s not fair. Look at poor Matthew.”
The hearing continues today at the NSW Supreme Court when Cahill will take the stand.
I thought she was hitting him but I then realised she had a knife ISABEL JENNINGS