A murder trial at the Central Criminal Court has heard that a Co. Galway dairy farmer received €244,000 from his local milk processor for liquid milk in 2017.
Michael Scott (58) of Gortanumera, Portumna, Co. Galway has pleaded not guilty to murdering his aunt, Chrissie Treacy, outside her home in Derryhiney, Portumna, on April 27, 2018, by running over her with an agricultural teleporter.
The prosecution alleges that Scott deliberately ran over his aunt following a long-running dispute over land. Scott’s lawyers have said Chrissie Treacy’s death was a tragic accident.
Court statements
The court has heard from a witness that Michael Scott had an “almost childlike” obsession with land and was motivated only by land and cattle.
The court also heard that when Scott told Robin Deasy that he “can’t handle that woman at all”, referring to his 76-year-old aunt, Mr. Deasy told him not to touch Chrissie Treacy and to leave her company if he felt he was “getting hot”.
Mr. Deasy also described what he called a “bizarre” incident on Halloween night 2017 when Chrissie Treacy seemed “very frightened” after the back door of her home “slammed violently” before Michael Scott appeared in the doorway and started speaking at the top of his voice.
Sgt. Gerard Cleary told the trial that about six weeks before Chrissie Treacy died, the accused came to Portumna Garda Station and became upset while telling him that he would have to “give up the cows” because Chrissie Treacy was being unreasonable.
The sergeant said: “He asked me to have a word with her. I advised him that I wouldn’t be having a word with Chrissie on his behalf and I advised him to go to Derryhiney and show a bit of kindness to Chrissie and if he was good to her, it would work out okay for him.”
Witness evidence to court
Robin Deasy told prosecution senior counsel Dean Kelly that he has known the Treacy family since he was a child and “held them in very high regard. They were very good to me for a very long time”.
He said he has also known Michael Scott a long time, likes him “a lot” and considers him a “very good farmer, a hard worker and admirable for that”.
After the death in 2011 of Chrissie’s last remaining brother, Willie Treacy, Michael Scott came to Robin Deasy to ask about buying his aunt out of the land at Derryhiney which was jointly owned by Scott and Chrissie Treacy.
Robin Deasy suggested to him that he enter a trust arrangement whereby Scott would take care of his aunt in her old age in return for the land.
He said that he had entered a similar arrangement with his uncle and it was successful.
“Mr. Scott wasn’t keen,” he said, “didn’t grasp the benefit of the idea,” and told him: “You forget I’m nearly 50.”
“I told him looking after someone, a relative, is very rewarding. I couldn’t get it across to him. He was fixated on land,” the witness told the trial.
Robin Deasy agreed that Michael Scott had an “almost childlike” obsession with land and added: “As I saw it, it was the one thing that motivated Mike all his life was land and cattle.”
Interaction at the Treacy house
On Halloween night, 2017, Robin Deasy and his wife visited Chrissie Treacy’s home. “We were always welcome there,” he said, but this night was “very different”.
Chrissie “wasn’t herself,” he said. When she offered tea and Robin Deasy refused, saying he was getting too fat, she didn’t react.
“Normally she would say, “you’re getting fat right enough” but she completely ignored it, her personality wasn’t there,” Deasy told the court.
Robin Deasy described her “fingering a bag on her lap” which contained holy pictures. He said: “She was uneasy, she didn’t really want to see us, I thought.”
After about 10 minutes, he said: “The back door slammed violently open and the kitchen door opened and Mike stood in the doorway and the dog started barking and Chrissie looked at the wall opposite and seemed very frightened. Mike said at the top of his voice, “the herd passed its test, I thought you wanted to know”.”
The witness said it was “completely bizarre” and Chrissie Treacy had “no interest at all in the herd at that stage. I felt she wanted him gone out of the house and then he turned and left”.
Relationship
Shortly after Christmas 2017, Michael Scott asked Robin Deasy if he could speak to him about “that woman”, referring to Chrissie Treacy.
Scott told him that he “can’t handle that woman at all” and Robin Deasy told him: “Whatever you do, don’t touch her.”
He said he had told Michael Scott that before and advised him that if he was “getting hot” to tell her he was leaving and would be back in the morning once he was feeling calmer.
“I told him to whack the wheel of a tractor if he needed to let off steam,” he said.
Milk payments
The owner of a dairy told the trial that Michael Scott and his wife were paid more than €244,000 for 620,000L of milk in 2017.
Jerry Ryan told senior counsel Dean Kelly that Scott and his wife, Cora Scott, supply milk to his Arrabawn Dairy co-op in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
He knew that Michael Scott had taken over the dairy farm following the death of Willie Treacy, Chrissie Treacy’s brother, in 2011. He agreed that the Treacy family ran an award-winning farm and were “well known for running a top class dairy operation”.
In 2017, Jerry Ryan said the Scotts sold more than 620,000L of milk to the dairy and were paid a little over €244,000. Michael Scott had spent €63,270 on feed and fertiliser with Arrabawn in that year, he said.
Mental health
Eugene Quirke told the court that he works with elderly people who suffer from mental health problems and got to know Chrissie Treacy after she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety following her brother’s death.
In June 2016, Eugene Quirke said he called to Michael Scott to “explore concerns” for Chrissie Treacy’s welfare and to “ascertain what issues might be causing upset to her”.
He said he advised Scott not to put Chrissie Treacy under any pressure “with the farm or the land” and Scott and his wife denied placing her under stress or pressure.
A social worker who was also at the meeting told Scott that he was obliged to report anything that might contribute to Chrissie Treacy’s stress, including “any suggestion of financial abuse or pressure”.
Eugene Quirke said the accused told them that he had paid all money owed for land rented from Chrissie Treacy.
The trial continues in front of Justice Caroline Biggs and a jury of seven men and eight women.
By Eoin Reynolds