A grave digger accused of murdering his partner has taken the stand at his own trial, telling the jury that while their relationship was “toxic”, he did not stab her to death and had done “everything to save her”.
Taking the stand on Thursday afternoon, Mr Hayes told his defence counsel Ronan Munro SC that he was in a 10-year relationship with Ms McDermott, that they met on social networking site Bebo and they had two children together. “She was a brilliant mother and would do everything for her kids,” he said.
Asked by Mr Munro why that was, the accused said that when Ms McDermott was pregnant with their first child she had a relationship with his “best mate”. He said when he found out, they ended their relationship but got back together when she had their daughter. Mr Munro told his client that the prosecution had suggested he had stabbed Ms McDermott that night. The accused said he did not stab his partner and had done everything to save her.