The deputy State pathologist has told the trial of a Co Galway man accused of the rape and murder of a schoolgirl that she could not say whether a fracture to the girl's neck was caused by strangulation or by restraining.
A 27-year-old man is on trial in the Central Criminal Court for murder and two counts of rape of the 17-year-old at a beach in Co Galway on December 6th, 1998. The girl's body was found on rocks on the shore that afternoon. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies the charges.
Dr Marie Cassidy had previously told the trial the neck fracture was a contributory cause of the girl's death. Her postmortem report concluded that the cause of death was "drowning, and as a contributory cause, compression of the neck".
Her initial report had said bruising to the neck and a fracture of a bone in the larynx, with the absence of asphyxial signs, suggested the girl had been gripped or grabbed by the neck or by an armlock, "to restrain rather than to strangle".
But cross-examined yesterday by Mr Barry White SC, defending, Dr Cassidy said she left her final report "open-ended" on whether the fracture was due to strangling or restraining.
She said the initial report was not meant to be definitive, but "a simplified summary of the findings", which she gave to gardai. "It was also factually incorrect because I said the absence of asphyxial signs when I should have said lack of asphyxial signs", she said.
"When preparing my final report I decided that I was not completely in the position to say what the intention behind the injury to the neck was."
Mr White put it to her that there was no evidence to suggest a forced drowning. "I would have no way of knowing whether she was forced into the water or under the water but certainly, there were no injuries to show that," Dr Cassidy said.
Questioned by Mr Paul Coffey, prosecuting, Dr Cassidy agreed her conclusion was that the girl was gripped with sufficient force to fracture a bone in the larynx area.
She agreed she had found "a strong possibility" that the girl was already unconscious when immersed in water. But she added: "There was nothing to suggest that she was conscious or unconscious in real terms."
The trial continues.