David & Sarah Johnston Accused Of Killing Profoundly Disabled Granddaughter

[Jerri Blank]

Couple accused of killing grandchild

A COUPLE in their 80s sexually assaulted and killed their profoundly disabled teenage granddaughter 11 years ago, a prosecution lawyer alleged at Belfast Crown Court yesterday.

Toby Hedworth QC said, as he opened the trial of 88-year-old David Johnston and his wife, Sarah (86), that "however surprising and however distasteful" this was what occurred.

He warned the seven men and five women on the jury that many aspects of the evidence they would hear during the trial "will be distressing and maybe unpalatable" but that at the end of it, they will have to decide on the couple's guilt or innocence "dispassionately and to set emotion aside".

The couple, from Carwood Drive, Newtownabbey, deny the manslaughter of their 14-year-old granddaughter Rebecca McKeown on March 24th, 2001, and cruelty towards her five days earlier on March 19.

The teenager, who had the body mass of a six-year-old, was confined to a specially designed wheelchair and could neither talk nor eat for herself and died after developing pneumonia.

Mr Hedworth claimed the pneumonia was brought about because of the loss of blood and shock she suffered in an alleged sexual attack while in the care of her grandparents.

He outlined how, on March 19th, Rebecca's "devoted" mother, Cheryl, took her to her parents home just around the corner.

However, when she was collected at about 8pm that evening, there was fresh blood in her nappy and although it was first thought that she might have started her first period, Mrs McKeown was suspicious and later physical examinations by numerous doctors revealed a "massive" tear to her vaginal wall that was "non-accidental" and inconsistent with an innocent explanation.

The doctors had opined, said the lawyer, that it would have been caused by the forceful insertion of an object, such as a penis, fingers or an inanimate object.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...315149114.html


David and Sarah Johnston deny the charges


Rebecca McKeown died in hospital in March 2001


I hope I put this thread in the right location, it's such a heinous case, just infuriated me.

[CbabyRKO]

O.o oh gah these shitty sperm stains on lifes pubic hair need to be washed from existence via fire and a shit ton of fucking kerosene. How nasty a person do you have to be to freakin sit back and watch or participate in this brutality...?

[Jerri Blank]

Doctor admits withholding details in Rebecca McKeown case

The doctor who examined a disabled girl days before she died following an alleged sexual assault has admitted she may have withheld details of a medical examination to protect her reputation.

Rebecca McKeown's grandparents are on trial accused of her 2001 manslaughter.

Dr Mary Donnelly admitted in court that for 11 years, she had failed to report full details of the intimate exam.

She said two of her fingers had "unintentionally" slipped inside the teenager's vagina.

The 14 year old died in hospital in March 2001, five days after she had been looked after by her grandparents.

Rebecca, who was severely disabled, could not walk, talk or feed herself and needed 24-hour care.

She died after contracting pneumonia which, according to the prosecution, came as a direct result of a sexual assault she suffered at the hands of one or other grandparent.

David and Sarah Johnston, from Carwood Drive in Glengormley, deny the charges.

Nervous

Dr Donnelly, who was working as an out-of-hours locum GP at the time, was called to examine Rebecca on 19 March 2001 after the teenager started bleeding from her vagina.

Under cross examination at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday, the doctor admitted that she did not reveal full details of what happened during the medical exam either to the police investigation or to a medical review of the treatment Rebecca had received.

Defence QC Gavan Duffy told Dr Donnelly that she had not given "candid and clear and complete" answers to the medical review and he asked if she had failed to do in order to protect her own interests.

Dr Donnelly said: "It might have been, yes", after she was urged to answer by the judge.

During her earlier evidece on Thursday, the doctor said the police came to her surgery to take a statement from her less than 24 hours after she had carried out the examination.

She said she felt it was "completely out of the ordinary" to make a statement without any notes available to her but said she "wasn't given an option".

She told Mr Duffy that she felt "nervous" about making the police statement but denied it was because she felt she had done something wrong.

Dr Donnelly said she had never given a statement to police before and added that it would be "quite intimidating for anyone".

Mr Johnston, 88, and his 86-year-old wife, are accused of Rebecca's manslaughter on 24 March 2001 and a further offence of child cruelty five days previously on 19 March.

The teenager was registered blind and suffered from a number of medical conditions including cerebral palsy, scoliosis of the spine, and severe epilepsy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18109206

[cubby]

Does this mean the Doctor may have been responsible for the sexual assault? I can't imagine any scenario where two fingers "accidentally" slip into a vagina. Sounds kinda like those guys that say they fall and their penis accidentally penetrates an underage victim.