A murder accused grave digger "planted" the narrative that his partner deliberately took her own life in the moments after he stabbed her, offering a version of events the State has told a trial jury is "absolutely a lie".
Martin Hayes's prosecution counsel said, "had as much contempt for Amadea McDermott in death as he had for her in life" and all the evidence led to the "irresistible conclusion" that the accused had inflicted the fatal injuries.
Mr Hayes' defence team, pointed out a postmortem examination found that the single stab wound to Ms McDermott's abdomen could be "consistent with self-harm", as is contended by the defence.
Rona Munro SC also told the jury that no DNA from Mr Hayes had been found on the knife suspected of inflicting the fatal wound.
Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, today gave his closing speech in the trial of Martin Hayes (34), who is charged with murdering mother-of-two Amadea McDermott (27) at her home in Rathvale Drive, Ayrfield, Coolock on or about July 20, 2017.
Mr Hayes, with an address at Poddle Close, Crumlin, Dublin 12 has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The trial has heard that the accused told emergency services who arrived at Amadea's home that the mother-of-two had self-harmed by stabbing herself.
Addressing the jury at the outset of his closing speech today, Mr Gillane said he was inviting them to convict Mr Hayes of the crime of murder because the evidence established that he was guilty of it.
Counsel asked the jury to consider the evidence in connection with Ms McDermott's injuries. He said the former State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy had told them about a lot of old injuries on the deceased, but he was asking the jurors to forget about these.
He added: "Remember she also told you about fresh injuries to the head and face which she described as blunt force traumas. Injuries to the face were consistent with blows to the face, that says something about the truth of what happened in the apartment that night".
Past violence
Furthermore, Mr Gillane said it was not a question of past violence but rather the violence inflicted on Ms McDermott that night, which ultimately brought about her death.
"When you tie it together, it leads to the irresistible conclusion that Mr Hayes inflicted those injuries. They couldn't have been inflicted by her on the account he has given," he continued.
The lawyer told the jurors that the obvious lies Mr Hayes had told them when he gave evidence could be exposed when they "drilled down into the last moments" of Ms McDermott's life. He said Ms McDermott had been on the phone to the accused's mother, Esther Hayes, that night and everything was normal.
"On that evening as the clock ticked towards her death, coming up to 10.30pm, closer and closer to the point to which the injury was inflicted, you will see the banal, almost beautiful ordinariness of someone [Ms McDermott] at home trying to organise her makeup for a future event and that is uncontested evidence in the case," he said.
Mr Gillane said that piece of evidence was important in terms of some of the suggestions that had been "nudged" the jury's way.
He said the jury had been sold a story by Mr Hayes about his partner visiting the doctor in 2013. He said the accused was saying that Ms McDermott had deliberately taken her own life and that this was part of the narrative or the story that Mr Hayes had "planted" in the minutes and moments after he inflicted that injury on the deceased.
"You heard his [Mr Hayes] own words when he rings 112 at 00.40, the first thing he says to the ambulance man is that she is after stabbing herself and the seed is planted and that is the narrative when the paramedics arrive," continued the barrister.
Counsel said the stall had been set that Ms McDermott was depressed and the accused had planted that seed and encouraged it to grow by the time he spoke to gardai and embellished, what the prosecution submitted was "absolutely a lie".
He said the accused, whilst taking the stand to give evidence in his own defence, had accepted the prosecution's "executive summary" that everything was fine on the night until the couple ran out of booze and Ms McDermott "exploded".
Mr Gillane submitted that the accused said he had decided to get away from the argument with his partner that night and leave the room.
"You have seen the knife, she stabs herself with it without so much as a cry, yelp or a whimper. She seems to take the knife out of herself, she must place it neatly on the table and then simply lies down and expires until Mr Hayes arrives like a white knight to save her," said counsel.
Counsel went on to tell the jury that this version of events made no sense on Ms McDermott's own terms and it made even less sense when they "pulled the lens back out of it".
He said the jury could also see from Ms McDermott's text messages to the accused that she wanted him to "stop doing violence to her".
He said the deceased was also trying to get the accused help because he had deranged thoughts in his mind. The trial has heard that Mr Hayes had alleged to a social worker that he found evidence on a phone that Amadea was having an incestuous relationship with a relative.
Mask slipped
Ms Higgins told the jury last week that Mr Hayes said that he had "helped" Amadea put a knife she was holding through her stomach by putting "his hands on her hands to help ram it through".
Counsel said the accused's mask had slipped when he was in a relationship with Ms Higgins and she could only have known what happened to Ms McDermott because she was told by the accused.
Mr Gillane suggested that the wool had been pulled over the eyes of gardai and the jury in relation to what happened on the night of the incident. He urged the jurors to be aware of a "steel fist in a silk glove"; the silk glove being the accused's counsel who had said what a beautiful woman Ms McDermott was.
"These words are meaningless when the steel fist comes," he said.
Counsel submitted that the accused had as much contempt for Ms McDermott in death as he had for her in life, when Mr Hayes told the jury yesterday about an affair the mother-of-two had with his friend.
Mr Hayes told the court in his direct evidence that when Amadea was pregnant with their first child, she had a relationship with his "best mate".
Mr Gillane continued by saying that the jury had been sold a narrative; "as if Mr Hayes is the victim of this tragedy instead of its cause".
Counsel finished by asking the jury to bring their life experience to the evidence in the case to conclude what had undoubtedly happened that night. "You will see it like a glowing ember in the fire, when you go through those text messages, in the week leading up to this, listen to what Amadea said; she sent him a message saying she was scared he was going to kill her.
"It's as if she had a crystal ball, she knew the storm was coming and that storm landed on this night, she wasn't someone who wanted death, she feared death," said Mr Gillane.
The prosecution barrister asked the jury to return a verdict of guilty of murder.
In his closing speech, defence counsel Ronan Munro SC said that his client had not tried to "pull the wool" over the eyes of either the jury or "experienced, expert gardaí" in his account of events on the night Ms McDermott died.
Mr Munro said that no DNA from Mr Hayes had been found on the knife suspected of inflicting the fatal wound and that toxicology reports tallied with Mr Hayes' account of both he and Ms McDermott taking cocaine and drinking vodka on the night.
"We know he [Mr Hayes] has a history of violence, can be callous and uncaring but he goes to the guards and that is consistent with innocence. She [Ms McDermott] seems to have been suffering with depression. Maybe if you are going out with Martin Hayes anyone could feel like that and then you add drink and drugs into that volatile relationship," said counsel.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott will begin charging the jury of eight men and four women on Monday before they commence their deliberations.
