92 - No Excuse: The murder of Mary Doogue

In October of 1995, Mary Doogue was beaten to death. She lay in her bed in her cold dark home for 12 hours before she got any medical attention, and died shortly after. Her partner 19 year old Stephen Davis was arrested two days later.  He would tell the court that he had been provoked. Would a jury buy his excuse? ********* Resources:Ireland & UK Women's Aid IE: Call 1800 341 900 Refuge UK: 0808 2000 247 ********* Join me at CrimeCon UK on September 25th & 26th 2021. For more information and tickets visit  crimecon.co.uk. Use the code MENSREA for 10% off. Purchase a ticket with the code and get in touch to get a free Mens Rea T-Shirt (limited to first 10 listeners who contact me) ********* With thanks to our sponsor for this episode: Sign up for professional online counselling at betterhelp.com/mens and get 10% off your first month! Try the casual mobile puzzle game Best Fiends today! Find it on the Apple App store and Google Play! ********* Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ********* Theme Music: Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Additional Music:   Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ********* Sources: Liz Allen, “Mother dies in brutal beating” in The Irish Independent (21 October 1995) p. 1. Ann O'Loughlin and Stephen McGrath, “Mum's killer seen by child?” in The Evening Herald (21 October 1995) p.p. 1-2. “Man arrested in Athy death” in The Sunday Tribune (22 October 1995) p. 3. Joanne McElgunn and Mike McNiffe, “Murdered mum Mary names her killer with her dying breath” in The Sunday World (22 October 1995) p. 1 -2. Alan O'Keefe, Don Lavery and Stephen McGrath, “Tragedy girl *childsname* (5) did not see her mum's killer” in The Sunday Independent (22 October 1995) p. 3. “I didn't go out to kill' – accused” in The Evening Herald (23 October 1995) p. 2. “Teenager accused of murder” in The Irish Independent (23 October 1995) p. 14. “Murder charge remand” in The Evening Herald (24 October 1995) p. 2. “Young man on trial for killing mum” in The Evening Herald (3 March 1997) p. 6. “Counsel tells court of 'great violence' and multiple injuries done to mother of six” in The Irish Times (4 March 1997) p. 3. Mary Carolan, “Mother killed by boyfriend, trial jury told” in The Irish Independent (4 March 1997) p. 6. “Court hears of victims 'fears'” in The Irish Independent (4 March 1997) p. 6. “Murder trial told of assault on mum” in The Evening Herald (4 March 1997) p. 17 Mary Carolan, “Alleged killer used 'severe violence'” in The Irish Independent (5 March 1997) p. 6. “I saw accused kicking victim in the street” in The Irish Independent (5 March 1997) p. 6. “Court told of bid to save mum's life” in The Evening Herald (5 March 1997) p. 12. Mary Carolan, “Mother 'could have died after fall on stairs'” in The Irish Independent (6 March 1997) p. 7 . Mary Carolan, “Woman 'claimed she was raped by two'” in The Irish Independent (7 March 1997) p. 5. “Murder case jury sent out” in The Irish Independent (8 March 1997) p. 4. Susan McKay, “Athy woman died in agony after most vicious attack” in The Sunday Tribune (9 March 1997) p. 8. “Murder trial to resume” in The Irish Independent (11 March 1997) p. 9. Mary Carolan, “Court told man was in a rage as he kicked girlfriend” in The Irish Independent (12 March 1997) p. 4. Mary Carolan, “Gardai 'sought lawyer for murder suspect'” in The Irish Independent (13 March 1997) p. 4. Diarmaid MacDermott, “Bruises linked to boot marks” in The Irish Independent (14 March 1997) p. 5. Susan McKay, “Athy murder trial hears garda evidence” in The Sunday Tribune (16 March 1997) p. 8 Mary Carolan, “Murder trial verdict today” in The Irish Independent (19 March 1997) p. 7. “Jury in Athy murder trial is sent to hotel” in The Irish Times (21 March 1997) p. 4. “Kildare man gets life sentence for brutal murder of his girlfriend” in The Irish Times (22 March 1997) p. 4. Mary Carolan, “Man gets life sentence for murder of girlfriend” in The Irish Independent (22 March 1997) p. 7. Stephen O'Brien, “Family stunned by series of deadly tragedies” in The Irish Independent (22 March 1997) p. 7 Bernie O'Toole, “I can never forgive” in The Evening Herald (22 March 1997) p.p. 8-9. Cathal O'Shea, “Evil killer's years of savagery” in The Sunday World (23 March 1997) p. 6-7. Mary Carolan, “Ex lover stabbed me in the back” in The Irish Independent (12 December 1996) p. 7. Mary Carolan, “Jealous lover given life term for murder” in The Irish Independent (18 December 1996) p. 5. Stephen O'Brien and Michael Lavery, “Crucial clash of evidence faced jury on stabbings” in The Irish Independent (18 December 1996) p. 5. Susan McKay, “A deadly power game” in The Sunday Tribune (23 March 1997) p. 14. Clodagh Sheehy, “Scared to death” in The Evening Herald (25 March 1997) p. 8. DPP v Davis [2001] 1 IR 146