Ill man allegedly killed by his sister’s partner

ADMITS HE HIT WOMAN BUT ‘DIDN’T TOUCH HER BROTHER’

A frail man was allegedly killed by his sister’s partner after telling him to leave her alone after he assaulted her.

Pearse Kavanagh attacked Sarah McQueeney before allegedly turning on Philip McQueeney as the trio socialised in South Tyneside.

Kavanagh is standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court accused of manslaughter.

Jurors were told Philip, 40, who was not in good health, died after an alleged attack in the afternoon of Tuesday July 19 2022, at Sarah McQueeney’s home on Rowan Drive, South Shields. Kavanagh has admitted assaulting Sarah, leaving her bleeding and bruised, but denies the manslaughter of Philip.

Matthew Donkin, prosecuting, said: “Philip McQueeney was in no real condition to defend himself and the defendant assaulted him, including what may have been a fatal blow, kicking him to his abdomen.”

Mr Donkin said the violence on Philip was unlawful, and “ultimately was a cause of his death”.

He added that once he learned of Philip’s death, Kavanagh “responded by lying”. He left a voicemail message for Sarah saying he had not seen her brother for over a week and had not hit him.

The court heard that on July 19, Sarah had been for an appointment and afterwards she returned home to Rowan Drive, South Shields, where Kavanagh and Philip were.

An hour after she got home, the court heard Kavanagh walked away from the property, “clearly drunk”, carrying a bottle of cider and wearing a padded jacket with no T-shirt or top underneath on what was an “exceptionally hot” day. Mr Donkin said he hid in some trees nearby.

Sarah told police they had been drinking and accepted her recollection would have been impacted by that.

She said on the day of the incident, Kavanagh became aggressive and punched her in the face.

Mr Donkin said she remembers her brother telling Kavanagh to leave her alone. He added: “Philip McQueeney was not in good health. He didn’t have the energy to get up.

“She was then aware of the defendant kicking her brother before leaving,”

Sarah called her mother who rang the police and when officers got there, Sarah was outside with blood on her face and clothes.

She said both men had been aggressive to her and said Kavanagh had gone and Philip was inside.

Philip was lying on the floor, seemingly watching TV. He said he wanted to go to bed but police said he needed to go to hospital.

He then became unresponsive and his condition rapidly declined and he had repeated cardiac arrests, dying later that day.

He was found to have a large volume of blood in his abdomen, with a laceration to a membrane around his small intestine and a superficial laceration to his liver.

Kavanagh, 46, of Frobisher Street, Hebburn later turned up back at the property in the early hours and was arrested around 1.30am.

He said he had hit Sarah but “didn’t touch her brother”.

Police found he had left a voicemail for Sarah around 10.50pm, accusing her of implicating him in the “murder of your brother” and claiming she had “punched him all over a week ago”, adding “you are a murderer, not me”.

Mr Donkin said: “As you will understand, those are lies. His first response on learning of the news of Philip McQueeney’s death was to lie to distance himself from the events of that night.”

Mr Donkin said Kavanagh told the police he had hit Sarah “because his son had been taken into foster care,”. He said they were arguing about that and lost his temper and struck her.

He also claimed Philip had gone to attack him with a bottle of alcohol and he had hit him in the eye. He said they ended up rolling around on the floor punching each other but that he had not kicked him.

■ Kavanagh denies manslaughter and the trial continues.