DOZENS OF injuries and scratches, some of which were old, at the time of her death were found on the body of a three-year- old girl who died in Tralee in 2005, an inquest has been told.
Sefora Kycwak’s mother Monika Paczkowska (34), last year pleaded guilty to the wilful ill-treatment of her daughter at Killeen Woods, Tralee, on August 2nd and 3rd, 2005. She was given a four-year sentence in May 2010.
Coroner Helen Lucey yesterday read out the certificate of conviction, saying it was not for an inquest to exonerate or to blame but the jury was “entitled to know the surrounding circumstances”.
Paczkowska was brought in custody to yesterday’s inquest. She was in tears when she took the stand briefly. A Polish interpreter assisted her with the evidence.
Paczkowska had told neighbour Breda Carey the child had become ill after drinking a soft drink, and she was aggressive in the way she described it, Ms Carey said. The child was dressed in underwear which was slightly soiled.
A doctor at Kerry General Hospital where the child was brought by ambulance alerted gardaí after noticing old and new bruising and scratches on the little girl’s limbs and buttocks, lower back and chest, the inquest heard. The child died on August 5th, 2005.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster, who carried out the postmortem, told the inquest yesterday the multiple bruises to head and body were not consistent with child’s play or with a simple fall or with resuscitation attempts.
The jury returned a verdict in accordance with Dr Bolster’s evidence.
