A teenage mother of two, who was stabbed to death outside a supermarket, was seen arguing with the woman who is accused of her murder and repeatedly asked her why she had kicked her in the stomach when she was pregnant with her three-year-old son, a witness has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court.
Shopkeeper Loren Boshell was giving evidence on day one of the trial of Kelly Noble (21), Seaview, Laytown, Co Meath, who denies the murder of Emma McLoughlin (19), who was stabbed to death outside Pat's supermarket in Laytown on June 2nd last year.
Ms Noble also denies a second charge of unlawfully producing a knife in the course of a dispute or a fight, in a manner likely to intimidate or inflict serious injury.
Opening the case for the prosecution yesterday, Anthony Sammon SC said it was the State's case that Ms Noble had carried out the fatal attack on Ms McLoughlin.
He told the jury of seven women and five men that it would hear evidence that Ms McLoughlin had died from a penetrating wound to the chest.
"The evidence will tell you that the person who did that stabbing was Kelly Noble. Nobody is in a position to say they directly saw Kelly Noble but there is enough evidence to be satisfied that she did."
Mr Boshell told Mr Sammon he was working at Pat's supermarket at about 9.10pm on June 2nd when he saw the accused come into the shop with her young son aged two or three in a buggy. Later he said he saw Ms McLoughlin enter the shop and an argument seemed to flair up between the two women.
"Emma was saying to Kelly, 'Why did you kick me in the stomach when I was pregnant'?" He said it was a "one-line" argument and the allegation was repeated.
His brother, William Boshell, was trying to intervene between the two women. Ms Noble seemed to be quite calm while Ms McLoughlin was "irritable" and he thought she had been drinking.
He said the situation seemed to calm down but he noticed Ms Noble had a bleeding nose and he gave her some tissue. He said Ms McLoughlin had "swung her arm out and clipped her on the face".
Ms McLoughlin then went outside while Ms Noble remained in the shop.
The witness agreed with defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC that when Ms Noble entered the shop she was like any other mother with a buggy, getting her groceries and going about her business, when "she came under a sustained verbal onslaught from Emma McLoughlin".
He also agreed that Ms McLoughlin had punched Ms Noble in the face, but when asked if that had been her style, he replied: "That's not for me to say."
William Boshell, who also gave evidence, described Ms McLoughlin as being on a bit of a high when she questioned Ms Noble in the supermarket.
He said: "She wanted an answer and she was hell bent on getting it." He told the women to forget about it as the alleged attack on the pregnant Ms McLoughlin had happened three years previously.
He told Mr O'Higgins that when he left the shop that evening, he thought the row had quietened down, but agreed Ms Noble had been attacked. Asked if Ms McLoughlin frequently attacked people, he replied: "She had her moments, yes."
He agreed that he had told gardaí in a statement that the argument was continuing outside the nearby post office when he drove away that night.
The deceased's younger sister, Shona McLoughlin, who was at the scene and was called to give evidence yesterday, became too upset and left the courtroom in tears.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Barry White.