A young woman who was being detained in one of the country’s most secure units for severely troubled youths, went on trial on Wednesday, accused of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to her mother, and to a man who had been involved in her care.
Barbie Kardashian, 20, of no fixed abode, told staff at Coovagh House, Limerick, where she had been a resident on and off from 2018 to 2020, that she wanted to “rape” and “murder” her mother, members of her care team told Limerick Circuit Court.
Thomas Morgan, who at the time was Ms Kardashian’s case manager and the deputy social care manager at Coovagh House, gave evidence that Ms Kardashian “clearly expressed” during a conversation with him on March 12th, 2020, “that she wanted to track her mother down where she was living and kill her, to murder, and rape her”.
She became “frustrated” when she could not find out where her mother was living.
Mr Morgan said that during another conversation with Ms Kardashian, in April 2020, she “expressed a clear desire to rape and mutilate her mother”.
The court heard Ms Kardashian was diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder, and she has been in foster care since the age of 10, after her parents separated.
Coovagh House takes residents aged 11-17 years. However, due to a lack of capacity in specialist care for young persons in the State, Ms Kardashian’s residency at the Limerick unit was extended.
Mr Morgan said Ms Kardashian “planned” to find and kill her mother after she was discharged from the specialist Limerick unit.
The court heard that Coovagh houses, which has capacity for four residents, young people who have experienced childhood trauma, and who are at risk to themselves and or others, and it is one of only four such units in the State, and that residents are placed in the units specifically on foot of orders of the High Court.
Under cross-examination, Mr Morgan agreed with defence barrister Mark Nicholas SC, that Ms Kardashian would engage in “shock behaviour, saying things to get a reaction”.
'Rude and obnoxious'
Care worker Michael Mannix, gave evidence that Ms Kardashian took an immediate dislike to him and that she had threatened to kill him “many times” while he was on duty.
Mr Mannix alleged that, in July 2020, while he accompanied Ms Kardashian on a walk around the grounds of Coovagh, “she told me she wanted to stick a knife in my neck and see me bleed-out”.
Under cross-examination Mr Mannix agreed with Mr Nicholas that despite these alleged threats, he “wasn't afraid or in fear” of Ms Kardashian, who he said had been “rude and obnoxious”.
Mr Mannix continued that he had “worked with worse”, and he agreed that at no stage did he ever request not to work with Ms Kardashian, despite the alleged threats to him.
Mr Mannix said he eventually gave a statement to gardaí after he claimed Ms Kardashian threatened to “rape my wife and children and disembowel them”.
“When she brought my wife and kids into it, that’s a different ball game,” he said.
Brent Dugdale, another of Ms Kardashian’s former care workers, also gave evidence off the threats made to the alleged injured parties.
“She was very cool, calm, and collected, and in my opinion it was very genuine. I thought if she got the opportunity she would have acted on her threats,” Mr Dugdale said.
Under cross-examination by Mr Nicholas, he said he was aware of Ms Kardashian having made an allegation that she had been sexually assaulted when she was a child.
Enda Long, who worked as a care team leader at Coovagh from 2015-2021 gave evidence of witnessing Ms Kardashian threaten Mr Mannix “that she would leave his children without a father”.
He said he was also aware Ms Kardashian has threatened to “mutilate her mother after leaving Coovagh House”.
The trial continues Thursday.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
