Neighbours witness strange sight in mum's garden before making horror discovery
Neighbours witness strange sight in mum's garden before making horror discovery
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In the early hours of the morning, neighbours heard banging and looked out their window to see a man in a mum-of-two's back garden carrying bags - only for a horrific discovery to be made later on. Lisa Thompson, 52, was found inside the door of her home with multiple stab wounds to the chest and a window blind cord wrapped around the neck, a murder trial heard. Brian McHugh, 40, from Dublin has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court in Ireland to murdering Ms Thompson at Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun in Dublin on May 9, 2022.
The jury will hear evidence that gardai found jewellery linked to Ms Thompson after a search of McHugh's home. Opening the prosecution's case, prosecutor Fiona Murphy said the court will hear evidence from the deceased's neighbour Rachel Barton, who will say that she heard a lot of banging around 2am on May 9. "She will say she looked out her window and saw a man in Ms Thompson's back garden," said Ms Murphy.
Ms Barton, the court heard, will also testify that the man put three bags in the back of a dark green jeep, which then drove towards the main road. Ms Barton had called to Ms Thompson's house on three occasions but didn't get a response. The prosecution barrister went on to tell the court that another neighbour heard banging on a wall of Ms Thompson's house, a gate opening and closing and a vehicle leaving. "She will say she looked in and saw a light on in the kitchen and it seemed unusual to be on," added counsel.
Ms Murphy said the trial will hear that Damien Geraghty found Ms Thompson's remains inside the door of the property around 3pm that afternoon. Another neighbour then arrived at the scene and rang the emergency services. When paramedics arrived they discovered Ms Thompson's remains. She had numerous wounds to the chest, a bloody mouth and nose and a window blind cord was wrapped around the neck. Gardai found the rear door of Ms Thompson's house unlocked whilst the front door was locked. The upstairs bedroom was "ransacked" but gardai had noticed no sign of a forced entry. Two knives were missing from a block of knives in the kitchen. The court was also told that Mr McHugh knew Ms Thompson. Ms Murphy said pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan will give evidence to the trial that Ms Thompson's death occurred through a combination of ligature strangulation causing asphyxia and multiple stab wounds to the left side of the chest.
Counsel added: "Details of strangulation wasn't raised to the media and only gardai were aware". The barrister further stated that the blind cord was retrieved and sent for forensic examination. Counsel said there was a mixed DNA profile on the cord and Ms Thompson couldn't be excluded as a major contributor, while the accused couldn't be excluded as a minor contributor. Ms Murphy said the chance of the DNA coming from anyone else was one in one thousand million.
There will be other evidence, counsel said, about a named woman who was the registered owner of a Hyundai Tucson and CCTV footage will show the vehicle pulling up in a laneway at Sandyhill Gardens on the night. A male is seen getting out of the vehicle and the prosecution will call evidence from a garda who recognised the male as Mr McHugh, reported the Irish Mirror. CCTV footage, she said, shows the male approaching Ms Thompson's front door at 1.30am and a light coming on. At 2.50am, a man who the prosecution say is the accused is captured leaving the property but not through the front door. Ms Murphy said the man is carrying something in his hands and gets into the Tucson, which is waiting nearby before driving away.
Counsel said that the Tucson arrives at an Applegreen service station in Finglas and identification evidence will be put before the jurors of Mr McHugh and the named woman being in the car. She said CCTV footage will show the accused searching through various items and showing the items to the cashier. Ms Murphy said the evidence will be that Mr McHugh returns to the Tucson, refuels it and is then captured in conversation "making gestures to the person in the car". An individual found Ms Thompson's driving licence on a slip road in Finglas on May 10. "It is the prosecution case that CCTV footage will show the car would have been in that area," she said.
The car drove to Aldi in Finglas and was captured on CCTV footage arriving at the Clayton hotel beside Dublin Airport. Mr McHugh was driving and the named woman was a passenger in the car, counsel said. Gardai carried out a search of nearby wasteland a few days later and recovered Ms Thompson's medication and her house keys. Counsel said the court will hear that garda searches were also conducted at the accused's home at Cairn Court, where he was residing with his mother. Jewellery linked to the deceased was seized from the house and the jury will hear "information on DNA aspects of that".
