LAST UPDATE | 7 May

TRIPLE MURDERER ANDY Cash, who inflicted hundreds of stab and slash wounds on his siblings before throwing the body of his eight-year-old brother out of the first floor window of their Tallaght home, has been given three separate life sentences at the Central Criminal Court this morning.

Gardaí who responded to the multiple homicide told the court that the scene they encountered was one of “carnage”.

“Our three innocent children were viciously taken from us and that was the day the world stopped turning. What is left is our broken family and every day since has been unbearable”, the victims mother Margaret McDonagh, along with other family members, wrote in a victim impact statement that was read to the court.

“It’s been two birthdays, two Christmases and two of every occasion that we have spent without them,” they wrote.

“We miss everything about them, hearing their voices, their laughs, the conversations we would have, the games we would play as a family, the hugs and kisses that we won’t ever get from them again.”

They said there are not enough words to describe the pain and hurt that is in the hearts of their family and the pain that they have to live “with every second of every day since”.

“The only thing that hurts more than losing them is knowing how much they have missed out on, how they never got to finish school with their friends or learn how to drive a car or get the chance to see the world.

“It’s not just what was taken from us that hurts, it’s how their whole lives were taken from them, before they even had a chance to live them.”

They added: “Our whole world is gone and there isn’t anything that will change it. We will live with this unbearable heartache and pain for the rest of our lives.”

Andy Cash (26) pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court this morning to the murders of 18-year-old Lisa Cash and her eight-year-old twin brother and sister, Christy and Chelsea Cawley, at their family home in Rossfield Avenue, Tallaght, Dublin 24, in the early hours of 4 September 2022.

The testimony was heard as part of an emotional and powerful victim impact statement, before Cash was sentenced to three mandatory terms of life imprisonment for murdering his three siblings.

The sentences were backdated to 4 September 2022, when he went into custody.

Detective Garda Robert Whitty told prosecution counsel Sean Gillane SC that when gardai arrived at the scene, it was one of carnage.

All three victims had suffered “catastrophic” injuries having been stabbed multiple times.

A post mortem revealed 71 slash and stab injuries to Lisa’s face, neck, chest and limbs. There were also signs that she had tried to defend herself from the attack.

Christy suffered 107 sharp force injuries before being thrown out a first floor window of the house while his sister Chelsea was stabbed and slashed 65 times.

The family’s victim impact statement continued: “There is no amount of time a person can spend in a jail cell that will justify what has happened to our family.

“It was not just three lives that were taken from us that day but six lives. We are no longer the people we were when they were alive as we died with them that day.

“We do not know how to live in this world without them. It’s a struggle we live with every day.”

The statement concluded: “Lisa, Christy and Chelsea deserved so much more from life, they deserved to grow old and live their lives however they would have chosen to and to have families of their own.

“They were the most beautiful, kind, and loving children in the world. We will cherish every memory made with them and love and miss them forever”. 

Brendan Grehan SC, defending Cash, told Justice Paul McDermott that his client, also of Rossfield Avenue in Tallaght, had asked him to say that he is sorry for his actions and sorry to all the people that he has hurt. 

Before sentencing Cash to the mandatory terms for murder, Justice McDermott noted that the evidence was “deeply traumatising” and said the loss of children on the cusp of their lives was devastating.

“Nothing I do or say today can in any way help in that,” he said.

“My function today having heard the evidence of three lives lost in the most appalling circumstances is simply to receive the evidence of lives lost and damage done and to impose the only sentence that can apply in a case of this kind.”

Earlier, Grehan had told the court that Cash could be arraigned on all counts on the indictment. 

Multiple killer Cash appeared in court for the arraignment this morning and spoke only to answer “guilty” when each of the three charges were read to him by the registrar. 

Members of the children’s family were present in court for the hearing. 

Sentencing

Detective Garda Whitty told Gillane that in the lead-up to the stabbings, there was a family event to mark the one-year anniversary of the passing of a relative.

Alcohol was consumed, he said, and at one gathering other family members became uncomfortable with some of the things Andy Cash was saying.

From there Cash took a taxi to Rossfield Avenue and went inside the family home while the taxi driver waited.

The twins, Chelsea and Christy were asleep in bed while Lisa was watching Netflix in another room.

The taxi driver heard screaming but was unsure where it was coming from. The defendant then emerged from the house and told the driver to call 999.

When the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) arrived they saw Cash upstairs acting erratically and aggressively.

He threw a television from the top floor and as members approached the house he dangled a child from the window. The child, who already appeared lifeless, was dropped to the ground, Detective Garda Whitty said.

Cash then repelled efforts by gardaí to enter the house before the ERU members forced entry and used non-lethal weapons to subdue Cash, who was still acting violently.

They found Lisa Cash badly injured at the bottom of the stairs but were unable to save her life. 

All three victims had suffered “catastrophic” injuries having been stabbed multiple times, the detective said.

A post mortem revealed 71 slash and stab injuries to Lisa’s face, neck, chest and limbs. There were also signs that she had tried to defend herself from the attack.

Christy suffered 107 sharp force injuries while his sister Chelsea was stabbed and slashed 65 times.

The garda inquiries revealed that on arriving at the house, Cash first entered Lisa’s room where she was overheard telling him she didn’t have any money and that he shouldn’t be there. The defendant began stabbing Lisa in the doorway of her bedroom.

He then turned on his other, younger siblings.

Brendan Grehan SC, for Cash, told the court that since going into custody in September 2022, his client has been assessed by two psychiatrists and a psychologist. He said Cash asked him to say that he is “sorry for his actions and sorry to the people he has hurt”. 

Justice Paul McDermott imposed a life sentence on Cash in respect of each count of murder, the sentences to run concurrently. The judge finished by offering his “heartfelt condolences” to the family.