A WOMAN who denies a charge of attempted murder of her eight-year-old daughter by stabbing her 79 times and trying to strangle her with a phone-charging cord told a court today (Monday) that she was out of her mind.
The woman – who cannot be identified because that would identify the alleged victim, who is a minor – is a Russian national who fled the war in Ukraine in 2022 and was accommodated in the Mid West.
The jury of seven men and five women in the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, heard from the prosecution that it would be up to them to decide whether the woman intended to murder her daughter or whether she was suffering from a mental disorder at the time.
Senior counsel Lorcan Connolly, instructed by the State Solicitor’s office and assisted by Rebecca Smart BL, told the jury that they will hear evidence that residents in the premises where the woman and her child lived called the emergency services at 7.40am on September 27, 2022, after hearing a commotion.
He said they would hear that Gardaí arrived to find the door of the room locked and had to force entry.
When they gained access, Mr Connolly said, they found the accused in the ensuite bathroom, holding the child who had “cuts all over her body, bleeding badly. There was a phone-charging cable in her (the child’s) hair. There was a large amount of blood. She had in excess of 79 wounds.”
Mr Connolly said that the little girl was transferred to University Hospital Limerick and then to Crumlin childrens’ hospital in Dublin with “life changing injuries”.
She survived the injuries and will be giving evidence in the trial by way of recorded interview, Judge Kerida Naidoo, was told.
He said the accused “did not respond to instructions” given by Gardaí and appeared to be confused.
Gardaí found a number of packets of prescription drugs at the scene, the prosecutor said. The mother was brought to UHL where she was treated for a suspected drug overdose and transferred some days later to the Central Mental Hospital.
He said the jury would hear from interviews with the accused in the wake of the alleged attack that “her intention was to end her daughter’s life and then end her own life”.
Representing the accused woman is senior counsel Mark Nicholas, and Antoinette Simon BL, instructed by Kieran O’Brien Solicitors.
The jury will hear the case for the defence later in the trial.