Millie accused awaits new bail judgement

Editorial Department • Published 29 Oct 2010 09:00

The 31-year-old man accused of murdering baby Millie Martin will discover on Monday if he is to be released on bail.

Barry McCarney was arrested when the 15-month-old was murdered at her home at Glebe Park in Enniskillen last December and has spent 10 months in custody at Maghaberry Prison awaiting trial.

He appeared at Dungannon Court on Tuesday when details were given of the horrific injuries inflicted on Millie and of the sexual abuse she suffered prior to her death.

McCarney’s solicitor, Mr. Conor Heaney, pointed out that Millie’s mother, Rachael Martin, has now been charged with wilfully neglecting the little girl and has been released on bail.

“There can be no logical basis to treat my client differently to Rachael Martin in this enquiry,” he argued.

A Crown lawyer described it as a very complex case involving over 300 witnesses, including medical experts and around 50 members of the public in Enniskillen, many of whom are known to McCarney.

She said she believed a decision would be taken within the next few weeks on what charges McCarney should face and a Preliminary Enquiry could be held before Christmas. She said he had already been charged with murder but there was “clear evidence” Millie was sexually assaulted.

She said the sequence of events leading up to Millie’s death was agreed by her mother and McCarney. On the evening of December 9, last year, McCarney was left alone with the baby while the mother went to get a take-away. The take-away was closed so she phoned him on his mobile but he didn’t answer.

The lawyer said the prosecution believed that to be significant as McCarney gave a number of different accounts of what he was doing during the 15 to 20 minutes the mother was away. The following day Millie was unwell and McCarney was behaving “very suspiciously”. He went to work where his colleagues recalled him acting in an “agitated” way. Around mid-morning he went to his employer and said he had been vomiting and wanted to go home.

The Crown lawyer said there was evidence “this was a lie”.

That evening the mother put her to bed and went to the shop where she appeared “very normal”. While she was in the shop McCarney was alone with Millie. He claimed he had gone to the toilet and heard the baby gasping for breath, realised she was in distress and ran to a neighbour’s house with her in his arms.

Millie was admitted to the Erne Hospital around 8.45pm and transferred to Belfast where she died 19 hours later.

Pathologist Professor Jack Crane found that she died from a severe blow to the back of the head from a bar or straight-edged, sharp object such as a piece of furniture. He stated that the severity of the injury was such that it would likely have led to a rapid loss of consciousness and was therefore likely to have been sustained “very shortly” prior to her admission to the Erne.

“The prosecution say that very shortly prior to her admission she was with McCarney on her own,” the Crown lawyer stated.

She said Millie also had injuries to her chest, abdomen, thighs and elbow and the location of these injuries suggested they were not caused accidentally. A burn to her finger was consistent with a cigarette burn. McCarney said he was with her when she held her finger over a candle.

The lawyer told the court Millie also had “severe abdominal injuries” including internal bruising with tears to her intestine. They would have been caused by blows to the abdomen, by punching or prodding.

She explained that Millie also sustained 11 rib fractures, consistent with her rib cage being forcible grabbed or squeezed, and finally she had swelling and bruising to the genitals with the pathologist’s report concluding she had been recently sexually assaulted. The injuries were consistent with the attempted insertion of a hard object such as a finger or erect adult penis.

Objecting to bail in the “strongest terms” she said the prosecution feared that if McCarney was released he would fail to turn up for his trial and interfere with witnesses, some of whom saw injuries appear on Millie after McCarney moved in with her mother.

McCarney’s defence solicitor, Mr. Conor Heaney, pointed out that this was his second application for bail and was primarily based on the fact that Millie’s mother was now a suspect in the case. He said the court should take very careful regard of the forensic evidence. Professor Crane found that the fatal blow was sustained “very shortly” before Millie’s admission to the Erne but was unable to say when. The court was saying it was inflicted in the critical five minutes when the mother was out of the house.

District Judge Liam McNally said: “The prosecution case is that he caused all the injuries and she allowed that to happen.”

Mr. Heaney argued that who caused the injuries was “absolutely critical” and the medical evidence did not point conclusively to it being inflicted within five minutes of the mother leaving the house. The mother told police she was the primary carer and McCarney had no occasion to change or bath Millie.

He argued that the police failure to treat everyone as a suspect at the time was “very, very damaging” because, low and behold on September 27, this year, they arrested and charged Millie’s mother with wilful neglect.

Mr. Heaney submitted that the arresting and charging of Millie’s mother “fundamentally weakens the case against my client”. As she was a suspect there must be some doubt she was a truthful and reliable witness. Either she was aware of the injuries being inflicted or she herself, or someone known to her, was responsible for them and she wanted to protect herself or that person or persons unknown.

He said the decision to arrest and charge her with wilful neglect represented the least serious charge that could be laid against her while maintaining the charge against McCarney.

“The decision to arrest Rachael Martin presents the prosecution with a major difficulty because they are now left without a witness about events in the weeks and hours leading up to Millie Martin’s death because she is now a suspect,” stated Mr. Heaney.

He said there had been no reports of witnesses being interfered with and that was because McCarney had always insisted on his innocence and realised the serious consequences for him should he interfere with them.

“He wants to ensure his name is cleared and he is vindicated,” added Mr. Heaney.

He said the bail application was “very provisional” and was based on the fact that McCarney was willing to live in a controlled environment in accommodation provided by the probation service. That process of finding him a place to stay could only begin when the court indicated it was prepared to grant him bail.

The District Judge said he would consider the pathologist’s report and medical evidence and give his decision on whether to grant McCarney bail at Fermanagh Court on Monday.

Tweet

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 28 Oct 10

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.