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Woman tells court of violent outburst

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date18 April 2024
Publication titleEvening Chronicle
Pearse Kavanagh is standing trial accused of the manslaughter of Philip McQueeney, 40, which he denies

He has admitted assaulting his then-partner, Sarah McQueeney, who is Philip's sister, on the same occasion.

Sarah told jurors at Newcastle Crown Court that on the day of the alleged killing, July 19, 2022, Philip was "in a really really bad way" due to his alcohol dependency and was "frail", "weak" and not able to walk properly.

She said Philip and Kavanagh ended up drinking alcohol and watching the film Rocky 3 at her home in South Shields with her.

Sarah, who was having issues with alcohol at the time, said: "Pearse all of a sudden started shouting aggressively. "That was just before he hit me.

He stood up as he was shouting. He was stood up when he punched me."

Asked if he had said anything before the outburst, she replied: "No he just snapped."

She added: "He punched me in the face. It was hard, hard enough to throw my head back and startle me.

"I just remember being startled and there was just blood everywhere." Sarah said her brother was too weak to get up off the floor, where he was sitting, but he shouted: "Get off her, get off her, leave her alone."

She said Kavanagh then kicked her brother.

She told the court: "He just started kicking. He kicked him. Philip was hunched and he was just kicking him then he left, he just walked out."

Sarah said Kavanagh kicked Philip hard twice. She added: "I was just stood there, I was trying to protect

Philip but I...

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