Man accused of murdering Mayo brothers ‘pretended to be doctor’

A man accused of murdering two elderly brothers in Co Mayo was pretending to be a doctor, and siad he would carry out the postmortems on any bodies found that night, just hours before he killed the men.

Alan Cawley’s trial heard that he threatened to have a fellow pub customer he had just met “committed” with the help of gardaí to prevent him killing his wife.

The 30-year-old has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to charges of murdering Thomas Blaine and John (Jack) Blaine on July 10th, 2013 at New Antrim Street in Castlebar. The men were found beaten to death.

Mr Cawley, of Four Winds, Corrinbla, Ballina, has admitted killing the brothers, one of whom was disabled and was scalded during the assault.

Michelle Nally told the court that she was bar manager at The Irish House in Castlebar but was off duty and socialising there on the night of July 9th, 2013.

She told Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, that a couple she knew, Mick and Maureen Lacey, came into the bar. They were followed a short time later by a man she did not know who it is accepted was the accused.

Ms Nally said the man appeared to go straight over to them and that after a while it she believed Mrs Lacey wanted him to leave them alone.

‘Uncomfortable’

Ms Nally said she invited Mrs Lacey to join her and her friend, as she looked “very uncomfortable” but that the man followed her.

“He was saying that Michael Lacey had health issues and he thought that Michael was going to kill Maureen that night. He said he wanted to ring the Gardaí on him, that he was afraid for her.”

She said the man claimed to be studying to be a doctor and to have done 4½ years of training. “He said he was working in the mortuary in Castlebar and that if Mrs Lacey’s body, or any body, was found in the morning, he’d be doing the postmortems,” she said.

“I said they were very serious accusations and he had no right to be saying it...He said he had the authority to do it because he was training to be a doctor.”

Ms Nally said asked Mr Cawley his name. “He said he was Alan McDonagh from Cavan, his grandparents were part of the Traveller community but he was settled,” she said. “He had settled as a child and that’s why he was training to be a doctor.”

Postmortem

She said she asked if he would mind her ringing the HSE in the morning to report him as he was drinking at 11pm and would possibly be carrying out a postmortem at 6am. She was also going to mention the serious allegations.

Ms Nally said Mr Cawley became angry when she put her hand in her pocket, and asked if she was recording. She told him he could finish his drink outside, but not to come back onto the premises.

“I didn’t know if he was acting crazy,” she added. “I was fearful.”

She said that she’d had every intention of calling the HSE in the morning but, when she heard the news about the Blaine brothers, she called the gardaí.

Caroline Biggs SC, defending, put it to her that it had been a completely irrational allegation to make about Mr Lacey. “Yeah, it was crazy,” she replied. “He didn’t know them.”

The jury also heard from the last person, besides the accused, to see Jack Blaine alive, barman John Ralph.

He had just delivered a cup of tea from the pub to Jack Blaine’s windowsill when he noticed him with the accused.

Mr Ralph said he got to know Jack Blaine during his nine years working in Rocky’s Bar, across the road from their home, and that the deceased would come in every night for cups of tea.

Mr Ralph said it was late on the night of July 9th, 2013 when he brought Jack Blaine his last cup of tea.

“Jack was coming out beside me,” he said. “This gentleman (Mr Cawley) was on my left-hand side.”

He said he crossed the road and left the cup of tea on the Blaine’s windowsill.

Once back in the bar, Mr Ralph looked out the window. “I could hear him asking was he ok,” he recalled. “This lad had his arm on Jack and Jack patted him.”

The trial continues on Monday.