Grandchildren of a pensioner allegedly murdered in her home had previously alerted gardaí and social services about concerns they had for her safety, a court heard.
Josephine “Josie” Ray (89), of St Joseph’s Park, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, was found dead in her bed on August 4th, 2024, after she was allegedly suffocated and strangled.
Hasan Ali Gori (52), originally from Chad, Africa, and with an address at St Joseph’s Park, Nenagh, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court, Limerick, to murdering Josephine Ray.
At the time, Ali Gori was in a relationship with Josie Ray’s daughter, Mary Ray, who it was heard has an intellectual disability, and they were both living in Josie Ray’s house.
On Wednesday, the court heard evidence of a phone call made by Josie Ray’s granddaughter, Rosie O’Brien, to gardaí on the night before her death.
O’Brien told gardaí that Mary Ray and the accused were “fighting” and “screaming at each other” at Josie Ray’s house, and she was concerned for her elderly grandmother.
Josie Ray’s grandson Daniel O’Brien gave evidence in court that he was a regular visitor in his grandmother’s home, but that he stepped back from visiting her after the accused moved into the property.
O’Brien described his grandmother’s relationship with the accused as “bad”. He said he witnessed a lot of arguments involving Josie, her daughter Mary, and the accused.
Mary Ray, the accused, and Mary Ray’s son were in the house when she was discovered dead, the jury of nine men and three women heard.
[ Elderly woman and man accused of her murder had regularly argued, court hearsOpens in new window ]
Answering prosecuting barrister David Humphries, Daniel O’Brien said he had grown “very concerned” that his grandmother was suffering “abuse” in her home.
O’Brien agreed with Ali Gori’s barrister Aidan Doyle that he contacted a social worker and a council housing official and told them that his aunt Mary and the accused were being “violent” to his grandmother at her local authority home.
Sarah Ray, another daughter of Josie Ray, told the court that her mother and the accused were constantly arguing.
Sarah Ray said she saw her mother hit one of the accused’s legs with a “poker” when she was “all over the place” and “didn’t mean it”.
She said her mother paid “most” of her own household bills, but she agreed that the payment of bills later became an “issue” in the house.
Sarah Ray said that, a few months before her mother’s death, she found her on the floor of her own kitchen after she “slipped” and fractured her hip.
Sarah Ray said her mother recuperated at her home for a few months because she had felt safe there.
Sarah Ray said that, on the night before her mother’s death, her sister Mary was telephoning Josie constantly asking her to go back home, telling Josie “there’s trouble in the house”.
She eventually brought her mother back to her home that night because her mother “was worried about Mary”.
Carmel Ray told the court that she did not have a close relationship with her mother growing up, because she lived with her father, while Josie lived with Mary, who required her full attention due to having a learning disability.
Carmel Ray said her sister Mary was a “very kind, shy” girl but that she was “easily led” and her mother “always had to protect her”.
Mary Ray was not a person to normally show signs of “aggression”, Carmel Ray said, “unless something really annoyed her”.
Carmel Ray recalled an incident when Mary was a teenager and she struck another of their sisters after she repeatedly refused to do chores.
Carmel Ray also recalled a later incident when, following a traumatic incident, Mary “couldn’t control her emotions” and the situation required five gardaí to subdue her.
Josie Ray didn’t approve of Mary having boyfriends; Mary had children but she was not capable of looking after them, it was heard.
Carmel Ray said Mary’s relationship with the accused was “volatile, disruptive, constantly arguing, and dysfunctional”.
The trial continues on Thursday.