BY AUSTIN LYNCH
On the second day of her murder trial at Enniskillen Crown Court, 21-year -old Irvinestown woman, Diana Louise Beckett pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Stephen Francis Robinson, her mother's partner, at their Irvinestown home on 15th February 2006.
When her trial began, on Monday, Beckett, from 17 Cullaghmore Road in Irvinestown (also known as Liscreevan Road), had denied murdering Mr Robinson in the early hours of 15th February 2006.
But, shortly before 3.00pm yesterday (Tuesday) Eilish McDermott, defence counsel for the accused, told Mr Justice Hart, and the jury, that she had an application to make and asked that her client be re-arraigned on the charge of murdering Stephen Robinson.
When Diana Beckett was read the charge again by the court clerk, and asked how did she plead, she said, 'I'm guilty of manslaughter' before breaking down in tears.
Counsel for the prosecution, Philip Mateer, QC, said this was acceptable to the prosecution in this case.
Outlining the prosecution case to the jury of nine women and three men on Monday, Mr Mateer, said that, on the night in question, Emergency Services were called to an address at Liscreevan Road outside Irvinestown where they found the body of the deceased, a 39-year -old male, on the premises.
Mr Mateer explained to the jury that the house was in a remote location and that both police and ambulance had some difficulty in finding the address, with both arriving almost simultaneously at 4.05am.
Upon arrival, the deceased's partner, Dorothy Beckett, was found outside the house screaming hysterically "He's in there. What kept you?"
Police tried to gain access to the rear door of the house but they had trouble opening it because the body of the deceased was lying in the back porch, blocking the door.
Upon entering the house, members of the emergency services found the accused in an hysterical state in the kitchen, while her boyfriend was attempting to give CPR to Mr Robinson.
Mr Mateer told the jury how ambulance staff took over, but discovered Mr Robinson was dead and that he had been dead for some time.
Investigations concluded that the cause of death was a stab wound to the chest - to a depth of 12-13cms - which severed the aorta, the main artery of the heart, meaning death would have been fairly rapid.
Mr Mateer told the jury the accused was now twenty-one but that she was only 19 years old at the time and that she'd been living in this bungalow with her mother, Dorothy, and her partner, Stephen Robinson, for some five months prior to this date. The jury were told Dorothy's two younger children also lived in this house.
The Court was told that the accused was arrested by Constable Maxwell that morning on suspicion of murder. A follow-up search of the house discovered two knifes which were seized for potential relevance to the case - one in the kitchen and one in the utility room.
The second knife had a 15cm blade and had spots and smears of blood on the handle and blade which matched the deceased's.
Blood found in the bedroom area matched both the deceased's and Dorothy's, and broken glass was also found in the bedroom area, although the source of this was never determined.
Giving some further details about the night in question, Mr Mateer said the accused, her mother and Mr Robinson had all been out for a Valentine's Day dinner, and had left the restaurant close to 2.00am. Mr Mateer said an argument might have began between the group before leaving the restaurant and that this argument might have escalated when they arrived back at home.
Mr Mateer explained that the accused was interviewed a number of times and that, initially, she denied stabbing Mr Robinson, saying she'd picked up a knife to scare him but that she was forced to drop it by Mr Robinson and her mother. She also claimed that Mr Robinson hit her, giving her a fat lip.
The accused later admitted she punched Mr Robinson in the face and, during her eighth interview, admitted stabbing Mr Robinson, but stating she hadn't meant to kill him.
Yesterday, (Tuesday) the second day of the murder trial, the jury were shown photographs of the crime scene, including photographs of the deceased still lying at the scene of the murder.
They also heard from Mervyn Brown, a PSNI photographic officer who produced photographs of injuries to both Dorothy and Diana Beckett, taken on 15th February 2006.
Dorothy Beckett had red marks on her wrist, left shoulder, neck, chest and elbow. The accused, Diana Beckett, had a red mark below her chin and on the base of her neck, marks on her knuckles and fingers and a mark on her cheek, as well as red marks on her left upper arm and right forearm.
Prosecution witness Colm McKelvey, a PSNI Constable working the police switchboard on Wednesday 15th February '06, said he answered a '999' call from Diana Beckett at 3.25am that morning.
The witness said the accused was screaming down the phone and was 'hysterical'. Constable McKelvey said the accused wanted an urgent police response to Cullaghmore Road in Irvinestown. The witness said he could hear others screaming and shouting in the background and the caller shouting for someone called, 'Terry'.
Constable McKelvey heard the accused say she was going to get someone arrested.
When the Constable asked what the problem was, the accused said Stephen Robinson had beaten up her and her mother.
Constable McKelvey said Cullaghmore Road wasn't an address he was familiar with, but no other details were forthcoming from the caller, who was in a hysterical state, so he dispatched two police cars to the general area to look for the address.
The witness said he then received a call from Ambulance Control to say they had been dispatched to an address at Cullaghmore Road following reports of a stabbing, but that they didn't know the exact location of the property either.
Constable McKelvey said, to get better directions, he rang the mobile number - from which the '999' call had been made - back but it took several attempts to get through.
The phone was eventually answered by a female and, although she didn't identify herself, Constable McKelvey said it sounded like the female who made the original call.
"(She) asked me to hurry up the response.", he said.
"The caller said 'he' had beaten her and her mother up and turned on her brother. The caller also stated she had taken a knife to protect her family and she didn't know what damage she had done with the knife.", the Constable added.
Following this statement, the accused broke down in the witness box, wailing loudly.
Constable McKelvey said that with directions provided during this call, he was able to direct the police cars to the house where they found a dead male.
The jury then heard evidence from Sean O'Kane, an emergency service dispatcher for the Ambulance Service.
At 3.40am, he said, he received a call from a female in a hysterical state who told him someone had been stabbed (a male) and asking for an ambulance to an address in Irvinestown. Mr O'Kane didn't get the address and said the caller - who didn't identify herself - was constantly screaming down the phone and, when questioned, he said he definitely heard one male and one female in the background of the call.
A short time later, the witness received a second call from the same caller asking where the ambulance was, saying that a male had been stabbed.
Thanking the jury for their time, and their patience, Mr Justice Hart discharged them, telling them he would not sentence the accused today. He asked the defence if they would like a pre-sentence report to be compiled. Defence counsel said they would.
Mr Justice Hart then asked the defence where did the manslaughter plea lie?
Eilish McDermott, for the accused, said the plea lay in the ground between provocation and self-defence.
The accused was remanded in custody, having been told by Mr Justice Hart he would hear a plea to the manslaughter charge on Friday 4th April in Belfast.
