A brother and sister murdered an elderly man in an attempt to cover up a robbery in Ringsend, Dublin, it was alleged to a jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.
Kenneth Cummins (28) and Sabrina Cummins (37), with an address at Ringsend Park, Dublin 4, have both pleaded not guilty to murdering Thomas Horan (63) at Cambridge Court, Ringsend, on January 6th last year.
Opening the trial, prosecution counsel Remy Farrell SC told the jury that both accused called to the victim’s house in the early hours of the morning in question. Their intention was to get money, he said, adding, “They decided to rob him and decided to kill him.”
‘Severely beaten’
Mr Farrell said the jury will hear evidence that Mr Horan was “severely beaten”, had a rope placed around his neck, a bag placed over his head, and that there was an “attempt to poison him” with cleaning fluids. “It was done to cover up there was a robbery,” he told the jury.
“Every step they [the accused] took after this was an attempt to cover their steps.”
Mr Farrell told the jury they will hear evidence from a neighbour of the victim who, in the early hours of the morning of the alleged murder, heard the victim’s voice and the voices of a man and woman.
Postmortem evidence will be “very important”, Mr Farrell told the jury.
He said this evidence will show Mr Horan’s death was caused by head, neck and chest injuries, “very significant and substantial injuries you might associate with a savage beating”.
Both Kenneth and Sabrina Cummins were arrested two days after Mr Horan’s body was found, he told the jury.
The court heard evidence from Mary Rose O’Sullivan about a 999 call received on the date of the alleged murder. A woman who called herself Joanna called 999 and told Ms O’Sullivan she had found the body of her friend, the court heard.
A recording of the call was played to the jury, who heard the caller say, “He’s on the side of the bed, on the floor beside the stereo.”
The caller asked for gardaí to be sent to Cambridge Square in Ringsend, the court heard.
Garda Ciaran Sweeney told the court he was on patrol on the morning in question when, at 5am, he was dispatched to the area of the alleged murder.
Couple on wall
Garda Sweeney said he noticed a couple sitting on the wall outside the Old Presbytery on Cambridge Road. “They were the only people around,” he said.
A woman whom he identified in court as Sabrina Cummins approached him and identified herself as the 999 caller, he said.
Garda Sweeney told the jury Ms Cummins told him she was on her way home when she saw the victim’s body through the window of his apartment.
It was “absolutely impossible” to see in the window Ms Cummins had referred to, Garda Sweeney told the court.
He told the court he had told Ms Cummins he would be in contact with her and her brother later to obtain a statement in relation to the incident. “She said that she had no issue with this,” Garda Sweeney told the court.
‘Like a foster father’
Ms Cummins told Garda Sweeney the victim was “like a foster father” to her, the court heard.
Kenneth Cummins is not present in court for the trial. Mr Justice Tony Hunt told the jury Mr Cummins “has asked not to be present during the trial, and I cannot see any reason this cannot be acceded to”.
Mr Justice Hunt told the jury that Mr Cummins’s absence is “not a piece of evidence”.
“Draw no adverse inferences from that. It’s a decision taken on a voluntary basis,” he said.
The trial continues.