Mongan wife recognised 'killers'

Giving evidence at Belfast Crown Court, Constable Sarah McGrath told the jury that when she arrived at the Mongan household on Fallswater Street in the west of the city, "it was chaos really" with constant screaming coming from inside the house.

The officer said once inside, she saw Mrs Julia Mongan "hysterically screaming, covered in blood" and noticed that she was "heavily pregnant".

"She was constantly saying over and over again 'please don't die John, please don't die,' screaming and crying it," said Constable McGrath, adding that she asked Mrs Mongan if she recognised any of the killers.

'Recognised'

"She stated that yes, she did. She recognised two males to be Christy Stokes and a teenager, both from Derry. She stated that she recognised them by their voices and she had known them all her life," said the officer.

In the dock denying the murder of 30-year-old John Mongan in the early hours of February 7th last year are 34-year-old Christopher Stokes, from the Glengalliagh area of Derry, Edward Gabriel Stokes, 38, from Cornshell Fields, also Derry, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be identified because of his age.

The three also deny causing criminal damage to a Mitsibushi Shogun jeep owned by Mr Mongan and Edward Stokes denies a further charge of wounding Mrs Mongan with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

It is the Crown case that after smashing their way into the house, the gang hacked and beat the father-of-two to death with an axe, a sword and a baseball bat in front of his wife and seven-year-old daughter - before speeding off in an Isuzu Trooper jeep which was later found burnt out close to Kesh in Fermanagh.

On Thursday, Constable McGrath told the court she went in the ambulance with Mrs Mongan, first to A&E at the Royal Victoria Hospital and then to the maternity unit but that for most of the time, she was "constantly crying".

'Hysterical'

"I can just describe it as hysterical," said the officer, "screaming, crying and not making much sense. She seemed a bit delirious."

Under cross examination from defence QC Philip Magee, acting on behalf of Christopher Stokes, Constable McGrath said she could not remember if Mrs Mongan had told her she could not see the faces of her husband's killers.

However, during a radio transmission made by the officer which was played to the jury, she can be heard telling the operator Mrs Mongan has named two alleged attackers but "she says she didn't see their faces but recognised their faces and has known them for years".

Previously, Mrs Mongan has told the jury she saw the "grinning" faces of the alleged killers as they battered her husband, claiming they were wearing hats and not balaclavas.

The trial, which is at the hearing stage, continues.