subject: Destination Newry News - Murder Of Maire Rankin - Accused Gives Evidence [print this page] Belfast Crown Court heard evidence from Karen Walsh, the woman accused of killing Newry pensioner Maire Rankin on Tuesday 27th September 2011. Ms Walsh denies the killing and told the Court that whilst she had visited Mrs. Rankin on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Rankin was fine, in that she was still alive when she left her.
Ms Walsh who is originally from Galway advised the Court that she had spoken to Mrs. Rankin on three or four occasions over the course of the year when her family spent time at their Dublin Road property.
She told the Court that on Christmas Eve she called to another of her neighbours however when she thought that they were not at home, she went to Mrs Rankins home to deliver a Christmas card.
She advised how Mrs Rankin had let her in via the intercom and that she followed her voice and found her upstairs in her bedroom sitting on a rocking chair with a quilt around her. Ms Walsh explained how she hugged and kissed Ms Rankin before helping her over to her bed to use her nebuliser mask.
She advised the Court that whilst she was talking to Mrs. Rankin she drank neat vodka from a bottle which she had intended to give her other neighbours. She explained that whilst she realised that it seemed terrible and horrendous that she would do that, it was Christmas time and Mrs Rankin was fine about it.
She further claimed that she had been worried about Mrs. Rankins breathing and so had went downstairs to look for her inhaler. She told the Court that she had debated whether she should stay with Mrs Rankin or invite her into her home as she realised how much effort it had taken to get Mrs Rankin over to the bed and how would Mrs Rankin manage if she needed the bathroom and was alone.
She advised the Court that Mrs Rankin had considered the option but had decided against it as her daughter would be calling early the next morning. Ms Walsh then claimed that she left the property, telling Mrs Rankin that she would pull the door behind her.
During cross examination, Ms Walsh agreed that she was very worried about Mrs Rankins breathing difficulties and had went downstairs to look for an inhaler for her. She could not however explain why she had initially told the police that she had looked in the kitchen however said in her evidence that she had only looked in the dining room and the living room.
The prosecuting QC put it to Ms Walsh that the kitchen would have been the most obvious place to look. The QC also asked Ms Walsh why, when she had looked for the inhaler and could not find it, that she sat down in the living room and ate a mince pie before simply getting up and leaving without going back up to check Mrs.
Rankin and say goodbye. Ms Walsh however replied that she had already hugged, kissed and wished Mrs. Rankin a happy Christmas. She further advised that Mrs. Rankin had told her that she was ok.
The prosecuting QC then brought Ms Walsh back through her initial police interview transcripts when she was merely considered by the police to be a significant witness. He questioned why she had not mentioned to the Police that she had hugged and kissed Mrs Rankin despite having plenty of opportunities to do so and why she had not thought this information would be of interest to them. Mrs Walsh replied that it was really difficult because she could not have been nicer to Mrs Rankin.
She was further questioned as to why she had asked the Police whether Mrs. Rankin had been beaten to which she replied that her husband had told her that the police were treating her death as suspicious and because she had seen the news on teletext. This was the first time that she had mentioned teletext.
As previously disclosed during these proceedings, Ms Walsh is believed to have telephoned her neighbour and asked him who was the last person to see Mrs. Rankin alive. The prosecuting QC queried why Ms Walsh had done such a thing, given that the Police had advised her that she was the last person who had seen her alive.
The QC put it to her that she did this due to the fact that she was afraid that someone had seen her leaving Mrs. Rankins home and that she was trying to cover her tracks, to which she repeated that she could not have been nicer to Mrs. Rankin.
