A man fatally stabbed his child in the heart before turning the knife on himself, an inquest heard yesterday. Robyn Leahy (2) was repeatedly stabbed by George McGloin (33) in Callan, Co Kilkenny, on November 11th, 2001.
A medical technician in Limerick, McGloin was separated from his wife and two children in Canada, and left Robyn's mother six weeks after the child was born.
Robyn's mother, Ms Lorraine Leahy, said McGloin visited the child every two weeks at their home on the Clonmel Road, Callan. He got very annoyed when she told him she was seeing someone else, four weeks beforehand, but he seemed in good form when he arrived at 10.30 a.m. on November 11th. She returned at 4.10 p.m. when he rang her mobile phone asking her to come back.
When she opened the front door, McGloin's eyes were bulging. She was punched and fell to the ground. McGloin got a poker, lifted Robyn's dress and started poking her in the stomach.
After she ran into the kitchen for a knife, he struck her with the poker on the back of the head. She did not see the knife in his hand. Then she saw blood on Robyn and ran for help.
The jury returned an open verdict in accordance with the medical evidence in both deaths.