A MARRIED MAN repeatedly stabbed a younger woman he was previously in a relationship with in front of their six-year-old daughter, a prosecution barrister has told a murder trial.

A witness told the trial this afternoon that she heard a child screaming outside her window on the afternoon of the killing and said: “The second scream sounded like a dog was about to attack the child, it was like a cry for help”.

The witness described comforting the “distraught” child after she picked her up and carried her away from her mother’s body.

Another witness testified that he had seen “the murder” taking place and saw a man make “five or six striking motions” whilst a woman lay on the ground.

He said the man, who had blood on his hands, tried “to kick” the woman’s body out of the way before he threw the knife down the street.

Fishmonger Edmundas Dauksa (51), with an address at Castletown Road in Dundalk, Co Louth has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ingrida Maciokaite (31) at Bridgewater Mews, Linenhall Street, Dundalk, Co Louth on 18 September 2018.

Opening the prosecution’s case today, Conor Devally SC said Dauksa and Maciokaite were from Lithuania and had each migrated to Ireland in the last 20 years, settling in the north-east of the country near Dundalk.

Outlining the facts of the case, Devally said that the accused is a married man and has children, who are now grown-up.

Dauksa ran a business that was involved in the distribution and gathering of shellfish and employed a variety of his fellow nationals, said the lawyer.

“Many Eastern Europeans had gone through his hands helping with the business and amongst them was Maciokaite,” he explained.

‘Slumped onto the pathway’ 

Detailing the evidence that will be heard, Devally said that Maciokaite was relatively younger than the accused man. A relationship developed between the pair notwithstanding his marriage and they had a child together.

“He should not be condemned for that,” he added.

The barrister said their daughter was six years of age at the time of the event and she was under the “the willing care and good care” of Dauksa and his wife.

Devally said the evidence will be that Maciokaite had lost contact with her daughter for some time but later renewed contact. In early 2018, quite a significant amount of contact was established on a weekly basis between Maciokaite and her daughter, he said.

There will be evidence, Devally said, that in the intervening period Maciokaite was living very near to Dauksa and their daughter would stay over with her. Maciokaite went on to have a second child with the accused and there was “quite intricate contact” between them as they were sharing parenthood.

The jury heard there will be evidence that on Tuesday, 18 September, CCTV footage shows Dauska attending Maciokaite’s home address by arrangement and he and Maciokaite can be seen going across the courtyard onto Linenhall Street.

Devally said the evidence will be that Dauska stabbed Maciokaite multiple times in an arch passage at a pedestrian bridge.

“Unfortunately, the child was in the vicinity and there was a scene of some chaos in the immediate wake of it,” he said.

The court heard further evidence will be that Dauska did not flee the scene entirely and “ejected” the knife across the street onto a path before he went up the street and “slumped” onto the pathway.

An ambulance arrived at the scene and Maciokaite bled out, he said. He indicated to the jury that they would hear evidence of the deceased’s injuries from a pathologist.

‘I seen the murder happening’

Giving evidence this afternoon, Garda David O’Leary said he was present at the scene in the aftermath of the incident, where a number of paramedics were treating Maciokaite.

The witness said his attention was drawn to a knife on the opposite side of the road from where the deceased was found. The garda identified the alleged knife used to stab Ms Maciokaite to death outside her home, which was also shown to the jury. He agreed with Devally that it looked like a boning knife.

Anthony Callan told Devally that he was walking down Linenhall Street, past the archway at Bridgewater Mews on the afternoon of 18 September, when he heard a couple with their voices raised.

The woman was leaning against the wall with a child standing in front of her looking onto Linenhall Street and a man was in front of her, he said. “I said to myself that’s a domestic and just kept moving on,” he said.

Yetunde Awosanya said she was in her apartment at Bridgewater Mews on the day of the incident, when she heard a child screaming.

The woman said she looked out her window but could not see anyone so she continued cooking.

“The second scream sounded like a dog was about to attack a child, it was like a cry for help,” she said. The witness said she ran out of the building and saw Maciokaite lying on the ground.

“I saw her partner walk out the gates to the other side of the road and I saw him drop a knife on the floor,” she said.

Awosanya said the little girl was in the middle of the road, looking at her father across the street. The witness said she checked Maciokaite’s neck and felt a faint pulse. Awosanya said she then ran outside the gate, picked up the child and carried her past her mother’s body but made sure that the little girl was looking away.

The witness said she stopped the first car she saw and got them to call gardaí and an ambulance. When gardaí arrived, she said she pointed out the same man she had seen leaving the scene as he had not moved from where he was.

Awosanya agreed with Devally that the child was in a distraught condition and very overwhelmed so she had comforted her.

Paul Ruane testified that he was driving down Linenhall Street, when he saw a woman with a child waving at the traffic and screaming for help. Ruane said he pulled his car in, got out and could see a woman lying on the ground behind a gate. He rang 999 at 2.43pm.

“People were pointing at the knife on the ground and the fella that done it was sitting on the ground on the other side of the road,” he said.

In cross-examination, Ruane agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending, that the man sitting across the road looked shocked.

Cyril Loughran, who worked as a welder at Linenhall Street, said he heard hysterical screaming at around 2.50pm. I saw a child running out the gate and she was screaming, he said.

Loughran continued: “I seen the murder happening. I seen a striking motion. The woman was on the ground. I saw five or six striking motions. I didn’t see the weapon.”

The witness said the man was trying to get the gate open but the deceased’s body was against it and he could not get out.

Loughran agreed with Elva Duffy BL, prosecuting, that the man was trying to kick the body out of the way of the gate. “When he came out he looked at me and then threw the knife back down the street and it landed across the road. I seen the knife and blood on his hands and knew something had happened then [sic],” he said.

He said he ran into his garage, rang 999 and got a blanket to put over the deceased’s body.

In cross-examination, Loughran told Bowman that he had seen a “striking motion”, when he was asked by the defence counsel if this had always been his recollection as he had not mentioned any “striking motion” in his statement.

In re-examination, Loughran told Duffy that the reference to the striking motion was not in his statement but he remembered it happening.

The trial continues on Tuesday before Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.