A Tralee woman has been found guilty by a jury of assault causing harm on a man in her house with a knife last year.
43-year-old Noreen Flannery of Cois Coille, Tralee, stood trial this week on two counts; one of assault causing harm, and one of production of a knife during the dispute.
The injured party, William O'Donoghue, told the Tralee Circuit Court trial he was stabbed in the leg after reaching for a can of beer.
A jury of six men and six women reached a unanimous verdict of guilty on both counts in just 21 minutes.
William O’Donoghue was at the house of Noreen Flannery and her boyfriend, Joe O’Shea, on the 10th March last year, and brought cans of beer and a bag of weed.
He told the court he reached for a can of one-euro beer, and Noreen Flannery went cuckoo and stabbed him in the leg with a knife.
Noreen Flannery had told gardaí Mr O’Donoghue was the person who produced the knife in an agitated mood, and began swinging it around so she tried to wrestle it off him.
Garda John Griffin, who was first on the scene, said the first thing he saw was Mr O’Donoghue hobbling towards him on the driveway; Mr O’Donoghue then pulled down his pants to reveal a fresh stab wound.
The court later heard this wound on his upper left thigh was approximately 2cm x 0.2cm.
Ms Flannery also told gardaí if she did cause his injury, it was completely accidental and may have happened during the course of a struggle.
No blood was found anywhere on the property, and a knife was seized but not sent for forensics as Garda Paul Ruby said it was recovered from the sink and was wet.
Closing for the prosecution, barrister Tom Rice said it would have been a waste of resources to send any objects for fingerprints, and the garda investigation was thorough.
Mr Rice told the jury Ms Flannery said she threw the knife into the garden after she wrestled it off Mr O’Donoghue, but no knife was recovered from the garden.
For the defence, barrister Richard Liston argued gardaí didn’t bother doing their job properly in attaining all possible evidence, including forensics, and he said neither gardaí nor the state covered themselves in glory with their case against Ms Flannery.
The jury spent just 21 mins deliberating before indicating they had reached a verdict, and Ms Flannery was found guilty on both counts.
She’s been remanded in custody to next Wednesday, May 15th.
