Santina Cawley murder trial: Leggings had blood of accused and toddler, court told

A pair of adult leggings found in the bedroom of an apartment where a two-year-old toddler was found with serious injuries contained blood from both the child and the woman accused of her murder, a trial has heard.

Forensic scientist, Dr Sibeal Waldron of Forensic Science Ireland told the trial of Karen Harrington that a pair of adult leggings with a floral pattern found in Ms Harrington’s apartment contained both Ms Harrington’s blood and blood from Santina Cawley.

The leggings, found in Ms Harrington’s bedroom, had a number of blood stains on one leg and four of these were found to contain DNA which matched that of Ms Harrington while a fifth blood stain contained DNA which matched that of Santina Cawley, she said.

Ms Harrington of Lakelands Crescent, Mahon, Cork, who was in a relationship with Santina’s father, Michael Cawley at the time of the child’s death, has denied the murder of Santina Cawley at Elderwood Park, Boreenamanna Road, Cork on July 5th, 2019.

Dr Waldron also told the jury of seven men and four women that a pink sequinned child’s t-shirt contained blood stains and DNA profiles on five of these stains matched the DNA profiles from Santina Cawley.

“The t-shirt was damaged on the right and left shoulder areas. The tears and rips in both of these areas, are caused by some force of pulling and are not attributable to normal wear and tear,” she said.

Dr Waldron said that she also examined two clumps of hair found by scenes of crime examiners in Ms Harrington’s apartment and that these also matched the DNA profile of Santina Cawley.

Another forensic scientist, Dr Jennifer Ryan told how she, analysed sample strands of hair from the hair clumps and found that they contained the root of the hair in each case - “characteristic of forceful removal. Both clumps of hair were pulled from the head.”

Injuries

Earlier the court heard the toddler had suffered a total of 53 separate injuries.

Crime scene manager Det Garda Stephen Dennehy, of the Cork Scenes of Crime Unit, outlined the extent of the injuries sustained by Santina .

Det Garda Dennehy said that Santina had sustained 49 separate external injuries and a further four internal injuries when she was found by her father .

Det Garda Dennehy told the jury and Mr Justice Michael MacGrath that in addition to the external and internal injuries, clumps of hair were found inside the door of the apartment as well as on a three-seater sofa in the living area of the duplex.

He said that a blood-stained duvet was also recovered as well as the bottom half of clothing belonging to a child with a nappy inside. A gold stud earring was in Santina’s right ear but the left stud was found on the sitting room floor, he said.

He told how he found a pink top with a sequined front for a child aged 12 months to 18 months on a cushion on the arm of one of the couches. The top had two tear marks on the neck, one on the right side and one of the left side, he said.

Det Garda Dennehy also told how he found the uncovered duvet in the centre of the floor of the living room and there was a lot of blood on the underside of the duvet, while gardaí also found a child’s shoe under the duvet.

He also found a small amount of cannabis on top of a coffee table and a clump of hair on top of a cushion on the arm of a three-seater couch, while he also found a child’s pink leopard print leggings with a nappy and a white sock inside in the living room.

Det Garda Dennehy said he found a number of bloodied footprints in the kitchen area, also on the upper floor, including a bloody drag mark in front of the cooker and dishwasher, and he also found a yellow pair of blood stained child’s leggings in the kitchen area.

He said he also found a blood-stained pair of adult leggings with a floral pattern which were turned inside-out by a radiator in one of the downstairs bedrooms and one of the legs was heavily blood stained. The bedroom was Ms Harrington’s, the court heard.

Cross-examined by defence counsel. Brendan Grehan SC, Det Garda Dennehy agreed that from a forensic examination point of view, the kitchen was not difficult to interpret but the living area was “strange to examine and interpret – it was not a typical scene”.

The trial also heard from Det Garda Eoghain O’Callaghan who told how he spoke to Ms Harrington outside the property on the morning the death occurred. She was in a “distressed state” and grabbing on to his arm. Ms Harrington asked him if “She (Santina) was okay.”

He told the court Mr Cawley approached Ms Harrington and a fraught situation developed. Mr Cawley accused Ms Harrington of killing his child, saying, ‘You killed my baby, you monster.” She said ‘I did yeah - I did yeah’ sarcastically,” said Det Garda O’Callaghan.

Defence Counsel Brendan Grehan SC put it to Det Garda O’Callaghan that his client said ‘I did yeah’ in a sarcastic tone suggesting that the opposite was the case and Det Garda O’Callaghan agreed that Ms Harrington’s response was sarcastic. The case continues.