'There was a substantial amount of blood on the floor,’ Garda tells court in murder trial

The nurse who found 61-year-old Michael Foley lying dead in a pool of blood in his kitchen told the judge and jury at his murder trial that he used to be very proud of his house — buying trinkets and other items to decorate it.

Ciara Harmon said he also spent an awful lot of his money on alcohol, but was organised enough to put some aside to pay for heating and so forth. Ms Harmon said he had moved into the house in October 2022 under the auspices of the Simon Community, Focus Ireland, and the HSE. She said he was required to get permission to have overnight guests, but that he invited people without permission.

The late Mr Foley told her he wanted to give people who were not fortunate enough to have a place of their own somewhere to stay, but she said she felt that sometimes he would invite them over “for a session”. 

On occasions this resulted in complaints from residents to the council about people’s behaviour in the area. Ms Harmon said it quietened down for a few months, but it did start again.

Care worker Niamh Kelleher used to call to Michael Foley’s home as well to see how he was getting on, and she testified that she called to him the week before his death: “He was his usual self — charismatic and chatty.”

Garda Fintan Coffey was one of the first gardaí on the scene, and he described what he saw: “I could see there was a substantial amount of blood on the floor and there appeared to be footmarks in it.”

He added that the soles of the deceased man’s shoes when he was found on the floor did not appear to have blood on them.

Garda Coffey said the deceased had a jacket draped across the bottom half of his torso, and had what he described as “a very nasty injury to his left ear”. This witness also said: “I could see a large blood spatter on the wall.”

Much of yesterday’s evidence in the trial consisted of CCTV from shops and street cameras of various parties to the case in and around Macroom.

Daniel Hourigan, aged 32, who is originally from Farranree in Cork city, and Linda O’Flynn, also aged 32, who is originally from the Hollyhill area of the city, both deny the murder between January 31 and February 1, 2024. Each defendant effectively blames the other. To the murder charge, each of them replied not guilty to murder but guilty of impeding the prosecution of another person.

The case will resume on Monday at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of nine men and three women.