Nicola Collins murder accused tells court he just pushed victim to get more room in bed

“I tried to push her to get more room and I heard her struggling for breath. I put her in the recovery position.She was spitting up blood,” the accused said to Garda Graham Desmond who gave evidence in the trial yesterday.

A member of the emergency services, Tadhg O’Mahony, of Cork fire service was one of the first to arrive and said in relation to the accused man: “I advised him to go to another room when CPR was being carried out. He refused to go to another room and said he was used to seeing dead people and he would prefer to stay.”

Cathal O'Sullivan, 45, who is originally from Charleville, County Cork, pleaded not guilty to a charge of murdering Nicola Collins on March 27, 2017 at a flat at 6A Popham's Road, Farranree, Cork, over the Gala store.

The late Ms Collins was a native of St Brendan’s Park in Tralee, Co Kerry, and had been living at Clashduv Road in the Togher area of Cork for a number of years.

The 999 call made by the accused, which lasted about 15 minutes, was played to Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and the jury of nine men and three women at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

The officer who took the call told the caller to stay on the line until the emergency services arrived at 6A Popham’s Road.

The caller said: “Jesus Christ, she is not breathing, like. She is inside in bed. (Asked how old she was) 37 or eight or something like that. F***. (Asked if he tried to resuscitate) I pumped her a few times and gave her mouth to mouth. Nothing coming back. I am pumping her. She is on the bed.”

The officer instructed the caller to put the woman flat on the floor and instructed him on how to pump her chest, repeatedly counting out a 1-2-3-4 rhythm to be followed. The caller said during this, “I’ve been doing that… I’ve done this already. It’s not working, like… There is water coming out of everywhere.”

Tadhg O’Mahony of the fire service said: “I asked him when was the last time he saw her alive? He said they went to bed at 2am and he woke some time later hearing gurgling noises. He said she had four litres of cider beforehand… he said she was on medication.”

Garda Stephen Aherne said he heard his colleague Garda Desmond ask the accused after caution: “Was there an altercation? He replied, ‘she came at me, I pushed her.’ He asked Cathal O’Sullivan why she was naked. He said, ‘I washed her, we would wash each other, like'.”

Garda Desmond said the accused was drinking from a can of beer at the scene. The guard told him to stop and he did.

Asked to account for some marks on the deceased’s body, Garda Desmond testified the accused said bruises were caused by him defending himself.

“He said (In relation to marks to her face) he could not say exactly how they were caused. He said they were drinking and fighting since Thursday, he said no one else entered the apartment.”

The trial continues today.