Kevin Mannion murder trial: Accused ‘called lawyers after fatally stabbing younger lover’

A man accused of murdering his 22-year-old girlfriend told 999 operators she was dying before calling a solicitor minutes later as paramedics battled to save her life, a jury has heard.

Kevin Mannion, 45, is accused of killing Elinor O’Brien in the 25-storey Great Northern Tower in Manchester. Prosecutors allege Mannion stabbed Ms O’Brien in a ‘rageful and violent attack’ on August 16 last year following an argument.

Emergency services found Ms O’Brien with a deep stab wound, and she was rushed to hospital where she died three days later following a ‘catastrophic’ brain injury. Mannion, who is also charged with wounding with intent and coercive or controlling behaviour, denies all the charges.

At Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, jurors heard a recording of a harrowing 999 call made from Mannion’s phone at 12.16pm on August 16. During the call, the defendant can be heard repeating Ms O’Brien’s name before begging 999 operators to ‘please come’.

‘There’s blood everywhere. She’s been punctured in the groin. Please come,’ he continues, before the operator asks for his address.

Elinor O’Brien, 22, was allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend Kevin Mannion, 45, following a row at their flat in Manchester 

‘You need to help. She’s dying, she’s dying. Please, please, please come,’ Mannion responds before giving his address. ‘I’m begging you to hurry up,’ he adds.

‘She’s been cut with a sharp object. She was picking her stuff up, I was throwing her stuff telling her to get out and something punctured her in the groin. I’m begging you to get someone here.’

Giving evidence, PC Luke Needham told the court he was called to the scene at Great Northern Tower at around 12.30pm. When he arrived, he said ambulance and paramedic crews were already at the scene, and they were all escorted upstairs to Mannion’s flat by the concierge, the court heard.

He told the court he saw a man laying over the bottom half of a person, and noticed a lot of blood on the floor. He said as he got closer, it was ‘clear’ the male was attempting to stem blood flowing from a wound, and he turned and said ‘thank God you are here’.

‘My first impression was that something wasn’t right,’ he told the court. He said Mannion was ‘sweating a lot’ and ‘breathing heavily’ – signs he associated with acute behavioural disorder but also showing ‘something had gone on’.

Cross-examining PC Needham, junior defence counsel Mr Jed O’Connor said: ‘There was a lady bleeding in the hallway of the flat, so it’s pretty obvious something wasn’t right.’ He then asked the officer if he accepted that Mannion appeared ‘distressed’.

PC Needham replied: ‘I would disagree slightly because he made a call to that person, the legal representative. If I was in that position I would not have done that. So that is why, in my opinion, something wasn’t right.’

He then told the court Mannion appeared to call a man named Greg, who he believed to be a lawyer, approximately six minutes after emergency services arrived at the flat. Junior prosecutor Mr Jamie Baxter asked him why he believed the recipient of the call was a lawyer.

The alleged killing took place at the 236ft tall Great Northern Tower in Manchester city centre on August 16 last year

‘On the call he said, “something is going on, I know the police are going to want to speak to me. I just need you there”,’ PC Needham replied. He also told the court that he noticed the number on Mannion’s phone was saved as ‘Greg – solicitor’.

Mannion’s neighbour, Ivan Watson, also gave evidence on Wednesday. He told jurors he recalled hearing ‘arguing’ from the accused’s flat from around midday on August 16. He told the court he recognised two voices – one female and one male – from other arguments he had heard through the walls of his flat.

Prosecuting, Mr Richard Pratt KC asked Mr Watson what he could hear. He replied: ‘It sounded like the usual argument, maybe a bit higher pitched, maybe more screaming at one point.’

Mr Pratt then asked if Mr Watson had heard anything after the ‘screaming’. Mr Watson told the court he thought he could hear the male voice outside the apartment.

‘It sounded like he was saying the female’s name and was banging on the door. It sounded like he had been locked out,’ he said. He then confirmed that the name he heard the male saying was ‘Elinor’.

Mr Watson told the court the argument got ‘louder’, but he ‘couldn’t make out’ what was said. He said at this point he considered calling the emergency services, but then the voices went ‘quiet’ and ‘soon after that’ he heard sirens as police and ambulance crews arrived.

Defending, Mr Francis FitzGibbons KC asked Mr Watson if he had ever met Mannion or Elinor. He confirmed he had not ever met or seen either of them.

The trial continues.