'Murder is murder to us': Irish tradesman's ex-girlfriend's damning victim impact statement after he was stabbed to death by his fiancee

  • The mother of slain Irishman David Walsh's daughters has taken aim at his killer
  • Mr Walsh's former fiancee Cathrina Cahill stabbed him to death early last year  
  • A court heard Cahill had previously wounded him after an incident at their home
  • Judge Peter Johnson admitted their relationship was 'volatile' on 'both sides'
  • Cahill's charge was downgraded to manslaughter based on her suffering PTSD  

By Holly Hales For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 09:27 EDT, 1 November 2018 | Updated: 10:57 EDT, 1 November 2018

The mother of slain Irishman David Walsh's three daughters has taken aim at his killer saying she 'took away' their lives too.

A father-of-four, Walsh was stabbed to death by his fiancée Cathrina Cahill at their Sydney home, just five weeks after he proposed on New Year's Eve 2016.

In an impassioned victim impact statement read by a representative, Caroline O'Brien wrote how Cahill's diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder was offensive to Mr Walsh's bereaved family.

'To say you have PTSD is a joke, you are a joke,' she wrote in the statement read to the New South Wales Supreme Court.

'Murder is murder to us and that will always be your title.'

Cahill, 27, last week pleaded guilty to manslaughter after it was downgraded from murder, for Walsh's stabbing death in February 2017.

The mother of slain Irishman David Walsh's three daughters has taken aim at his killer Cathrina Walsh (pictured) saying she 'took away' their lives too 

The mother of slain Irishman David Walsh's three daughters has taken aim at his killer Cathrina Walsh (pictured) saying she 'took away' their lives too

Cahill stabbed her tradesman partner to death previously wounded him after an incident at their home (pictured are the couple)

The parents of Cathrina Cahill, Rita Cahill (second from left) and Daniel Cahill (second from right) are seen with supporters outside the New South Wales Supreme Court on Thursday

The parents of Cathrina Cahill, Rita Cahill (second from left) and Daniel Cahill (second from right) are seen with supporters outside the New South Wales Supreme Court on Thursday

'Once you picked up that knife you took my children's lives away too,' Ms O'Brien wrote. 

Ms O'Brien, who had been in a relationship with Mr Walsh in their native Ireland for more than seven years, said he was a devoted family man who 'loved and gave and had the biggest heart'.

Speaking of her daughters' grief, Ms O'Brien revealed looking at photos of Mr Walsh 'just brings (the girls) sadness.' 

'All they see is you and a knife.' 

Mr Walsh had five brothers, a sister and parents, all of whom lived in Ireland at the time of his death. 

As his family's statements were being read out, killer Cathrina Cahill began to weep, hours after details of her violent past were told to the court.

In court on Thursday, Judge Peter Johnson admitted the pair's relationship had been 'volatile' on 'both sides'.

The pair had been engaged for only five weeks before Walsh (right) was stabbed to death

The pair had been engaged for only five weeks before Walsh (right) was stabbed to death

Cahill (pictured leaving court on October 22) and Mr Walsh were both from County Wexford in southeastern Ireland

Cahill (pictured leaving court on October 22) and Mr Walsh were both from County Wexford in southeastern Ireland

Mr Walsh's distraught father died only months following his son's death.

In his witness statement, Mr Walsh's brother, Jonathan, said their father told him he didn't want David 'up there on his own'. 

David's other brother, Patrick Walsh wrote that their father died 10 months later 'from a broken heart', while their mother had become an empty shell of her former self.

Cahill's parents Rita (left) and Daniel (right) Cahill stood in court in support of their daughter

According to facts read in court, the couple argued on the night of February 17, 2017, when they were drinking with others before Mr Walsh was thrown out of a pub. 

Cahill and their two female housemates arrived home with a man they had met at the bar.

Mr Walsh then attacked the man, demanding to know who he was.

Cahill says she was punched by Mr Walsh when trying to stop the attack, before she took out a 'large, very sharp, bladed knife' from the cutlery drawer and stabbed him.

Cahill had a previous conviction for being violent toward the father-of-four, it was then revealed.

In April 2016, Cahill was convicted of recklessly wounding Mr Walsh, 29, following an incident at their Sydney home and placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.

The court heard that Mr Walsh displayed 'controlling, degrading, psychologically damaging and violent behaviour' in the weeks leading up to his death

The court heard that Mr Walsh displayed 'controlling, degrading, psychologically damaging and violent behaviour' in the weeks leading up to his death

Cahill was due to face a murder trial in the NSW Supreme Court on October 23, but the charge was downgraded to manslaughter.

She then pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of substantial impairment by abnormality of the mind. 

She fatally stabbed Mr Walsh in the neck with a bottle following an argument outside their home in Padstow, in Sydney's south-west, on February 17 last year.

Isobel Jennings denied lying when she claimed Cahill said: 'I just wanted to kill him. I just wanted to kill him.'

The pair had been engaged for just five weeks.

The hearing continues on Friday.

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Irish tradesman David Walsh's ex-girlfriend's damning victim impact statement against Tina Cahill

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