An elderly woman has given evidence at a murder trial of praying over her 80-year-old husband when she found him unconscious and bloodied on the ground after he went out to the garage of their home to investigate a noise.
Sean Harding, of Marian Terrace, Tipperary town, is on trial at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Cork, charged with the murder of Timothy ‘Teddy’ Murnane.
The 32-year-old denies murder but has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Murnane at the latter’s home in St Michael’s Avenue, Tipperary town, on September 12, 2025.
Yesterday, on day two of the trial, pensioner Margaret Murnane said she was with her husband in the sitting room of their home, some time after 9pm on September 12, 2025, when Teddy mentioned he had heard a noise and said he planned to go outside and investigate.
Mrs Murnane said that several minutes went by and she decided to check on Teddy, a retired bus driver. She told the jury that when she went out the back of the house, she found him lying near the pedestrian entranceway at the side of the garage.
‘It was dark – I nearly fell over him. I looked down, and he was lying on the ground, with his legs near the garage door,’ said Mrs Murnane. ‘When I saw him on the ground, I said, “What happened, why are you down there? Why are you lying on the ground?” but I got no response whatsoever.
‘There was blood at the back of his head and blood [coming] out of his mouth. I was trying to put my husband on his side, to do something for him. I was trying to hold him, but he was just lying there. There was no response whatsoever.’
Mrs Murnane phoned her son, Patrick, to tell him that Teddy had suffered a fall, but when she was on the phone to him, she spotted that the side garage door was open. She also noticed the light was on in the garage and there was a black bag on the floor that she hadn’t seen previously.
Patrick Murnane rushed to the home of his parents and contacted emergency services. Mrs Murnane said that it ‘felt like forever’ waiting for the ambulance. She stifled tears as she said she prayed for her husband before the ambulance arrived.
Patrick Murnane said that when he got to the family home, he found his mother bent over his father, who was unconscious on the ground.
‘I went over immediately, and his breathing was very laboured – I spoke to him in a loud voice to try and make contact, but there was no response,’ he said. ‘He was bleeding from the head and at the time I presumed he had fallen.’
Mr Murnane said he began to form the thought that a burglary might have occurred after he spotted the side garage door was open. He said he also saw tools and a black holdall on the ground.
Garda Colin Hanley told the jury that he and Sergeant Chris McGrath arrived on the scene at 10.30 pm on September 12, 2025. Garda Hanley said there was a black holdall bag on the floor to the left of the garage door. Some tools were also on the floor.
Gardaí cordoned off the area, which was declared a crime scene, and later harvested CCTV footage from a householder in Marian Terrace. It showed a man, later identified as Mr Harding, walking in the direction of the Murnane home and carrying a black bag at 9.34pm on September 12, 2025. He was also captured on CCTV two minutes later running back without the holdall.
When the 32-year-old was arraigned yesterday, he pleaded guilty to three burglary charges, including two burglaries at the home of the late Teddy Murnane, on September 11 and 12, 2025, and a third unrelated burglary on the same evening.
He stated he was not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Teddy Murnane. The case will continue today in front of the jury and Judge Siobhan Lankford. It is expected to finish ‘well in advance’ of mid-November.
Mr Harding was a retired bus driver with Kavanagh Coaches. He was laid to rest at St Michael’s Cemetery in Tipperary town following a Requiem Mass at St Michael’s Church.
