Ex-boyfriend denies murder (From Western Telegraph)

Ex-boyfriend denies murder

A NEYLAND man, who found his ex-girlfriend with another man in the early hours of the morning, later stabbed her twice in the stomach, slicing through a main artery, a court heard on Monday.

He then walked away while the victim, Cindy McAteer, staggered to the front garden of a neighbouring home to get help. But her cries went unheard and she bled to death.

At Swansea Crown Court, Robert Watson denied murdering Miss McAteer but admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

Watson claimed he had started drinking at noon the previous day and later told police he had drunk 16 vodkas and taken a drugs overdose of 45 Valium pills and painkillers.

For the prosecution, Stephen Hopkins said Watson first broke into the home of another former girlfriend Sarah Jones in Elizabeth Court. He gained entry through a door panel in the kitchen.

Miss Jones was in bed with Gareth Mann, who woke to find Watson standing over him. A struggle followed in which Watson allegedly shouted: "Manny ... you're dead ... I'm going to kill you." During the fight Watson tumbled down the stairs.

Mr Hopkins said that Mr Mann noticed his attacker had what he thought was a bread knife.

Watson then allegedly left through the hole in the kitchen door shouting "Manny, you're dead."

Mr Hopkins said that Watson then got the taxi to drop him off close to where Cindy McAteer lived.

Cindy, whose young daughter was being looked after by a friend, had gone out. She went to the home of a friend, Sonny O'Dwyer, where she met Julian Griffiths who later went back with her to her home, Cosy Cottage, New Way, Pembroke, where they shared a bottle of whisky. It was alleged that after Watson kicked down the door of the house he threatened Griffiths saying "I'm going to have you. I'm going to cut you. Run, you'd better run".

Mr Griffiths was chased by Watson up Commons Road over a footbridge and into Commons Park as the defendant allegedly shouted "I'm going to hack your head off. I'm going to cut you''. Mr Griffiths eventually escaped and went home to bed.

"It's a pity he didn't phone the police but even if he had he may not have saved her life," said Mr Hopkins. "If Julian Griffiths is right, at that point Cindy was not only alive but also uninjured."

The defendant then returned to Miss McAteer's cottage, where he again threatened and terrified her with the knife, said Mr Hopkins. She was stabbed in the chest and stomach. Miss McAteer was found dead at 7 am in a small front garden in Main Street by a veterinary surgeon walking his dog. She had staggered up the hill barefoot in an attempt to escape.

A pathologist confirmed she died of loss of blood due to knife wounds. Watson then travelled to a friend Colin Jordan's house in Long Mains, Monkton, where he allegedly woke Mr Jordan up and said: "I just stabbed Cindy".

The jury heard that Miss McAteer had broken up with 35-year-old Watson three months earlier and had taken out a court injunction preventing him from seeing her.

A friend of Cindy's, Miss Simone Brooks, of Monkton, said that although Cindy had been faithful to Watson, he had 'been seeing' other women. She said that when Cindy gave birth to their daughter, Watson had been seeing a woman called Rachel.

And in the summer of 1991, while Cindy spent time in Ireland, he had begun a relationship with a woman named Sarah.

She said that after Cindy's return to Pembrokeshire last Autumn, the two re-started their relationship. But, it ended for good in February of this year. "There was no possibility she would go back to Bobby. Not this time," she told the jury.

Miss Brooks had been looking after Cindy's daughter the night Cindy died. She said the previous evening Cindy had left in a taxi after dropping off the child. The following morning, she had a phone call saying the police had closed off Main Street, Pembroke. Miss Brooks telephoned Cindy's mobile several times without reply. The trial continues.