The woman accused of murdering Santina Cawley told Gardai that all of the evidence seemed to point to her having committed the crime when she was shown photos of the apartment where the child was found, but insisted that she would never hurt a child.
38 year old Karen Harrington of Lakelands Crescent in Mahon in Cork is charged with murdering two year old Santina Cawley at 26 Elderwood Park on the Boreenmanna Road on the 5th of July 2019.
The jury at the trial were today shown a video recording of Karen Harrington's fifth Garda interview following the death of the child.
Harrington told Gardaí that she "couldn't explain herself" but that the scene suggested that she "went mad".
The footage showed the accused conceding that the evidence pointed at her being the culprit, but she also insisted that she would never hurt a child.
She told Gardaí that she did not murder Santina Cawley, saying "I would not harm a child, let alone murder a child."
Harington told Detective Garda David Noonan in that fifth interview that she felt sick looking at the photos from the scene and said she had not taunted the child and had no reason to taunt her.
She admitted "ranting and raving" and screaming and opening and closing a sliding door three times following an argument with her then boyfriend Michael Cawley, which led to a neighbour knocking on the door of her property and threatening to call the Gardaí.
Defence Senior Counsel Brendan Grehan put it to Inspector David Callaghan that his client's position had not changed in any of the interviews leading up that the fifth interview and said Harrington "doesn't have a history of violence on the Garda record".
The trial continues in front of Mr Justice McGrath.
