Woman used self-defence when she fatally stabbed 'companion' in Dublin apartment

ireland
Woman Used Self-Defence When She Fatally Stabbed 'Companion' In Dublin Apartment
The court was told on Tuesday's sentence hearing for Ann Phelan that she had her own "demons with drugs" and led a "disruptive life". Photo: PA
Share this article

Alison O’Riordan

A 50-year-old woman, who used excessive force in self-defence when she fatally stabbed her "companion" in a Dublin apartment, told gardaí she was in "total fear", that she didn't mean to kill him and what had happened was a "tragic accident", the Central Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.

The court was told on Tuesday's sentence hearing for Ann Phelan that she had her own "demons with drugs" and led a "disruptive life".

Advertisement

Her barrister said Phelan was "tortured by her actions" and had genuinely cared for the deceased.

Tuesday's sentencing also heard that the pair were "in a relationship of sorts" for two to three years where drugs were "sadly" a feature.

Ann Phelan was originally charged with the murder of David Ennis (36) at Claddagh Court in Ballyfermot on the night of November 8th, 2022.

However, last November Phelan, of Aylward Green, Finglas, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty to manslaughter when she was arraigned before the Central Criminal Court.

Advertisement

At the outset of Tuesday's sentence hearing before the Central Criminal Court, Eoghan Cole SC, prosecuting, said this was a case of excessive self-defence with a suggested headline sentence of between four and ten years in prison.

Detective Sergeant Ronan McDermott from Ballyfermot Garda Station detailed the background of the incident, telling Mr Cole that Claddagh Court is a gated community of residences for elderly people, which is provided by Dublin City Council.

The detective said witness Martin Higgins lived at Claddagh Court, where the event took place in the early hours of November 8th, 2022.

The witness said Phelan and Mr Ennis were known to each other and had previously been in a relationship for a considerable period of time.

Advertisement

Both the defendant and the deceased were suffering with a drug addiction and had related problems in their lives.

The investigation revealed CCTV footage showing Mr Ennis arriving at Claddagh Court at 11:30pm on November 7th. Phelan arrived at the same location around 1:20am on the morning of November 8th.

Mr Higgins had considered Mr Ennis to be "a dangerous person". The elderly man had also given the defendant money to share with the deceased for methadone. The detective agreed with counsel that Mr Higgins wanted the pair out of his life because they always wanted money from him.

Mr Higgins later told gardaí that Mr Ennis had slapped him in the face and verbally threatened him saying he would "kill the pair of them" when he let the deceased back into his home that night.

Advertisement

Mr Higgins told officers that Mr Ennis had followed Phelan into the bedroom on the night and given her "a few slaps", said the detective.

Mr Higgins went on to tell gardaí that when he went into the bedroom 30 minutes later he saw Mr Ennis lying on the ground and he seemed to be having a fit.

Mr Higgins said Phelan was sitting beside the deceased and holding his head. Mr Higgins said the defendant had told him that Mr Ennis had stabbed himself and she wanted to help him

Mr Higgins told gardaí he hadn't seen a knife and had pulled an emergency cord to notify security. A call came through from the monitoring company and Mr Higgins told them that "a man was on the floor with blood coming from him". Gardaí and Dublin Fire Brigade were dispatched to the incident.

Advertisement

Mr Cole said Mr Higgins told garda in his second statement that Mr Ennis would call around when the witness received his pension money and that he [the deceased] had a violent temperament and would use bad language.

Mr Higgins also told officers that Mr Ennis had slapped him in the face on the night and put his thumbs in his eyes. Mr Higgins had wanted to talk to both Phelan and Mr Ennis about calling around to him too often as there had been complaints.

Living room

Mr Higgins told gardaí he had seen Mr Ennis in the living room punching Phelan in the head saying "he would do me as well".

He said Mr Ennis had pulled his hair and said he would kill him. He said the deceased had stood over Phelan on the night and hit her with his fists.

He also said he had heard the defendant calling for help when she was in the bedroom with Mr Ennis on the night.

When gardaí arrived at the scene they noticed that Phelan was very distressed and had a large amount of blood on her hand and leggings. Blood on the defendant's leggings had matched the deceased's DNA profile.

Phelan gave a voluntary cautioned interview to gardaí in which she said Mr Ennis told her he would stab her and "the next thing he was on the floor with blood coming out of him".

She told gardaí that Mr Ennis had fallen on the floor and that there was a knife in the bedroom. She described to gardaí putting him in the recovery position and trying to help him. She said the deceased wasn't in his right mind and "was just going to stab them".

Gardaí noted the property was in a very bad condition with drug paraphernalia in all the rooms. A small kitchen knife like a potato peeler was found wrapped in some bedding adjacent to where the deceased was found. Blood on the blade of the knife matched the deceased's DNA profile.

During interviews Phelan referred to the deceased having suffered an injury in the days prior to the incident and said he had been behaving in an aggressive way that was concerning. The court heard there was evidence that Mr Ennis had suffered a fall from a balcony a few days before the incident.

Phelan also told officers in her interviews that Mr Ennis had verbally threatened and assaulted Mr Higgins. She also gave a description of the deceased threatening to stab them. She said Mr Ennis had a knife in his possession, that he hadn't been himself and was suffering seizures a lot prior to the event.

Phelan accepted she stabbed Mr Ennis because she was frightened of what he would do to them. The detective confirmed that Phelan told gardaí she was in "total fear", that she didn't mean to kill him and thought he had a knife. She thought she had stabbed him in the arm but the knife had gone into his side.

The deceased's cause of death was a stab wound to the abdomen with no contributory factors. The stab wound to the abdomen which entered the aorta was consistent with the use of a potato peeler knife.

The wound to the aorta would not have resulted in instant death and Mr Ennis would have been capable of movement for a short period of time, the court heard. There were also stab wounds to the back of the left thigh and the left calf.

The pathologist told gardaí that Mr Ennis had a number of injuries which tied in with him having suffered injuries from a fall.

A toxicology report showed a low level of cocaine consumed shortly before his death. It also suggested use of heroin and methadone and the consumption of a sleeping tablet.

Phelan has 26 previous convictions, of which the majority are for public order offences and non-appearance before court. She has no convictions for assault but does hold a conviction for violent behaviour in a garda station dating back to 2018, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement read by Detective Sgt McDermott, the deceased's mother Geraldine Ennis said her son was "a hard-working man in his day and always helped me out whenever he could".

Mrs Ennis said her son's life "tragically ended too soon" and that she was "devastated and heartbroken beyond words" that she will never see him again. She said she now needed "closure" and to let him rest in peace.

In a second statement the deceased's brother Lee Ennis said David was "a great brother", that he missed him dearly and "stresses about how he passed". "I feel depressed at times and find it hard to accept".

Under cross-examination, the detective agreed with Fiona Murphy SC, defending, that the accused and deceased were "in a relationship of sorts" for two to three years. Counsel said they both had their own issues with drugs and "sadly" drugs would have been a feature of their relationship.

The detective also agreed that there was "genuine love" between the couple and they were a support to each other. The pair had left Claddagh Court on the morning of November 7 and gone to a methadone clinic.

The officer further agreed that her client had said Mr Ennis was behaving "somewhat erratically", which was consistent with him having suffered a fall in the days prior to this event.

Ms Murphy put it to the detective that the deceased's behaviour was "out of the norm" on the night, which the officer agreed with saying it was "mainly verbal prior to this".

The detective said he was aware that the plea was being offered on the basis that the defendant accepted she had caused the death of Mr Ennis but was acting in self-defence.

In her submissions on Tuesday, Ms Murphy said she was instructed to offer a full apology to the Ennis family, that her client was "heartbroken" by his loss and that he was "very much a companion" to her.

Counsel said: "She cannot imagine the grief of his family and she is tortured by her actions and that she had a hand in his death".

In a short letter written by Phelan, the defendant apologised to the Ennis family saying what happened that night was a "tragic accident". She said that she is responsible and will be forever sorry to the deceased's family.

She said Phelan was very clear about her decision to turn her life around and had previously suffered domestic violence incidents, which caused considerable difficulties for her.

In mitigating, Ms Murphy asked the court to consider the assaults on both Mr Higgins and Phelan and the threats which followed on from that with a knife. She said Mr Higgins gave an account where Mr Ennis had threatened them with a knife.

Mr Justice Paul Burns remanded Phelan in custody until March 3rd, when she will be sentenced.

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps