Accused tells of beatings by partner

A Dublin woman accused of murdering her violent partner has claimed that he showed their daughter how to inject heroin and also…

A Dublin woman accused of murdering her violent partner has claimed that he showed their daughter how to inject heroin and also used her to carry drugs.

Ms Jacqui Noble, is jointly accused with Mr Paul Hopkins of murdering Mr Derek Benson in Ballymun in 2000. They deny the charge.

In her second day of evidence at the Central Criminal Court, the accused told her counsel, Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC, that she "just wanted to get away from him. To let me and Kelly live in peace".

Ms Noble has given evidence of extreme physical, sexual and emotional abuse by the deceased.

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Yesterday she told the court that after giving birth to their daughter she had three abortions. She refused to have another baby for him because of the beatings.

The accused, who frequently broke down on the stand, said she regularly sought refuge with friends or family when he bashed her.

"I was like a bag lady, always going to stay somewhere else," she cried.

When her parents died, she felt her "safe house" was gone.

She recalled one incident when Mr Benson kicked the family puppy when it was dying.

She claimed she would often "wake up in the morning and he'd be right over me with a balaclava on him and a knife up to my throat.

"I just had enough, my brain was just exploding with everything."

She said Mr Benson had their daughter - aged 13 at the time of the killing - under his control.

"He allowed her to drink alcohol and smoke hash and also showed her how to inject heroin. "He had her going out selling 'rips'", she alleged.

Mr Benson also allowed a female drug-pusher to stay in the flat while his daughter was living there.

When asked by her defence counsel if this was a contract killing the accused replied: "That means I would have paid Paul to kill Derek?"

"Is that what this was about Ms Noble?"

"No," she replied.

The accused admitted giving Paul Hopkins £200 before the killing when he told her he needed to buy a push bike for work.

"Did you want to see Derek Benson dead?" counsel asked.

"Yeah and no."

"Did you see any other way of living with your daughter?"

"No," she replied.

The trial continues on Monday.