Kevin Mannion: Man, 45, fatally stabbed girlfriend, 22, called lawyer on phone when paramedics came
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND: A man who killed his 22-year-old girlfriend in a rageful and violent attack last year, allegedly told the emergency call operator that she was "dying." He then called a solicitor minutes later when paramedics arrived to try and save her, a jury has heard. Kevin Mannion, 45, brutally murdered Elinor O'Brien in the 25-storey Great Northern Tower in Manchester on August 16, 2022, following an argument.
Emergency services arrived to discover a deep gash on her body and she was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, she succumbed to her injuries after three days following a 'catastrophic' brain injury. Mannion is facing other charges that include wounding with intent and coercive or controlling behavior but the suspect has denied all the charges.
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'There's blood everywhere'
On Wednesday, February 8, the jurors listened to the horrifying 999 call made by Mannion at around 12.16 pm on August 16. Mannion can be repeatedly heard repeating Elinor's name during the call before pleading to the emergency service providers 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. "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."
Police Constable Luke Needham told the court that he arrived a the scene at Great Northern Tower at around 12.30 pm. He said the ambulance and paramedic crews were already at the scene by the time he arrived. The court heard that all of them were escorted upstairs to Mannion's flat by the concierge. Needam further told that he noticed a man laying over the bottom half of a person, and then saw a lot of blood on the floor. He added that it became quite clear that the man was trying to prevent the blood flow from the wound and he turned and said "thank God you are here."
What the police saw at Mannion's home
"My first impression was that something wasn't right," Needham told the court according to Daily Mail. He said Mannion was "sweating a lot" and "breathing heavily," signs he associated with acute behavioral disorder but also showing "something had gone on."
Junior defense counsel Jed O'Connor said, while cross-examining Needham, "There was a lady bleeding in the hallway of the flat, so it's pretty obvious something wasn't right." He then questioned 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."
Needham then told the court that Mannion appeared to have called a man named Greg who he thought was a lawyer, just six minutes after the emergency services arrived. Junior prosecutor Jamie Baxter asked him why he believed the recipient of the call was a lawyer. "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'," Needham replied. He informed the court that he saw the man's contact number saved as "Greg - solicitor" on Mannion's phone.
What did Mannion's neighbor say?
On Wednesday, Mannion's neighbor, Ivan Watson, also provided evidence. He told jurors he recalled hearing "arguing" from the accused's flat from around midday on the day of the incident. He told the court that he knew the two voices — one male and another female — which was clearly evident from the argument that he heard.
Richard Pratt KC asked Watson while prosecuting what he could hear. He replied, "It sounded like the usual argument, maybe a bit higher pitched, maybe more screaming at one point. 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." Watson, who has never met the accused, said that he heard the argument get louder but he "couldn't make out" what was said. The trial is still on.