Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BOY’S HORROR AS ‘LIFE JUST SLIPPED AWAY’ FROM ANITA
Dad ‘sawed’ partner’s throat, court told
A MURDER trial heard harrowing evidence yesterday as the accused’s son told how “all life was just slipping away from” his dad’s partner.
The taped police interview with the teenager was played at the trial of David Lyness at Craigavon Crown Court sitting in Belfast.
The 52-year-old defendant denies murdering his girlfriend Anita Downey in his Toberhewny Hall home in Lurgan, Co Armagh, last January 20.
The court has already heard the victim was found with a cut to her neck so severe it severed her jugular vein.
Yesterday the jury heard Lyness’ son describe his horror as he watched his dad straddling Ms Downey and “sawing” at her neck as he told him, “It had to be done”.
The teenager, clearly distressed at times, was seen telling police he couldn’t understand why Ms Downey seemed “too calm for someone” being so brutally attacked.
He described how he returned home to find his dad, already drunk, playing poker on his computer.
Sometime later, at around midnight, Ms Downey arrived in a taxi. She also had drink taken and was unsteady on her feet, the court heard.
They went on to drink four bottles of “cheap Chardonnay” between them, almost “glass for glass” and began to argue and the teen went to his bedroom.
However, within moments he ran back to the living room on hearing his father say, “I’m going to beat you”, and found him sitting astride Ms Downey, “punching and violently abusing her”.
When he asked his dad what he was doing, he came at him, and pushing him out of the way stormed into the kitchen, returning with a large knife.
The teenager futher claimed his father “knew what he was going for when he went to the kitchen”.
He added: “It was just the way he stormed out, in a bad mood, and he was only there for about a second before I heard the knife rack going.”
The teenager said Ms Downey was lying on the floor “still dazed and confused about what was going on” and when his dad threatened him with the knife, he backed off “fearing” for his life.
However, he ran back to the living room when he heard the victim “screaming, ‘help me, he’s cutting me’.” The teenager told police when he opened the living room door this time “there was blood everywhere”.
He said his father was sitting astride Ms Downey, but this time he was “sawing” at her neck with the knife, “the biggest one in the house”.
The teenager described hearing Ms Downey’s voice and said: “It was so calm... I don’t know how she was so calm. He was sawing at her neck and she just looked at me [and said] your dad’s cutting me”.
He further claimed Ms Downey knew “all life was just slipping away from her” and he just couldn’t understand how someone in that state was so calm.
The witness said he “just freaked out” and ran from the house as his dad threatened to turn the knife on himself.
Asked by police what his dad may have meant by that, the teenager replied: “Well maybe he knew he was going to go to jail and instead of going to jail, he was going to kill himself.”