A Westmeath woman has been sentenced to six years in prison with the final 18 months suspended for the manslaughter of an acquaintance with whom she had been drinking earlier that night.
Agnes McCarthy (57), Meadowbrook, Athlone, was convicted by a jury last April. She had pleaded not guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court, sitting in Tullamore, to the unlawful killing of Lillian Scanlon at the victim’s home in May 2008.
The trial heard that the mother of three was found dead in a pool of blood.
Dr Marie Cassidy told the trial that Ms Scanlon had died due to an injury to her neck which was consistent with pressure having been applied to it.
The force used was not overly excessive but the damage caused to the victim by the assault was compromised by her own intake of alcohol.
Judge Tony Hunt noted that Ms Scanlon had been found partially clothed. He said this led the court to infer that McCarthy had interfered with the victim’s clothing in “a ham-fisted attempt” to confuse those investigating her death as to the manner in which she had died.
He said it was evident that Ms Scanlon had been a “generous, warm, very decent and kind woman and her loss was a very deep loss to her local community”. The judge acknowledged that Ms Scanlan’s problems with alcohol had been “unfortunately a regular feature in her life”.
He noted that although McCarthy admitted to gardaí that she had hit Ms Scanlon, she denied ever having put her hands around her neck.
Judge Hunt said McCarthy’s DNA was found under the victim’s fingernail and that another woman sleeping in the house heard Ms Scanlon call out “take your hands off my neck”.
He said the level of force by McCarthy was at the lower end of the scale but the crime was aggravated by the existence of “the amateur cover-up”.
He sentenced her to six years in prison but suspended the final 18 months on strict conditions.