The west Clare man being tried for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Ann Walsh, told gardaí that he loved her and didn't mean to kill her.
The Central Criminal Court in Ennis heard the contents of Garda interviews where the accused, Raymond Donovan, said that he held Ann Walsh's throat for between one and a half and two minutes before she went quiet on August 24th last.
Mr Donovan (24), New Houses, Cooraclare, denies the murder of Ms Walsh, who was 23.
On the third day of the trial before Mr Justice Paul Carney, the court heard that in a Garda interview on August 25th, Mr Donovan said: "When she went quiet, I thought that she was messing. I didn't mean to choke her. I didn't hit or scratch her.
Mr Donovan told Garda Michael Ryan in the interview: "I knew Ann for seven years, was going out with her for five years. I loved her. You hardly think I went off and strangled her for the good of my health."
Later in the interview, when asked about assaulting Ms Walsh, Mr Donovan said: "It isn't something that I woke up and decided to do." He added: "I knew that when I let go of her throat, I had done wrong." He later told Garda Ryan: "I didn't mean to kill her. I am sorry. I don't care what happens now. Do what you have to do."
Mr Donovan said he put his hands on Ms Walsh's neck after they had sex in the grounds of St Senan's church, Toler St, Kilrush, after 10pm on August 24th. He said they had sex there two or three times in the past. The two had been out drinking together in Kilrush earlier in the night.
Mr Donovan said he choked Ms Walsh because she was hitting him "and roaring at me not to move out of Kilrush". He said: "I wouldn't move. She wanted me to stay with her." Mr Donovan was also asked how a watch belonging to an ex-boyfriend of Ms Walsh, Liam Beehan, was found outside the church grounds on the street and Mr Donovan said he didn't know.
Mr Donovan said that after Ms Walsh went quiet, he rang his brother Seán to say he and Ann had a row and she wasn't moving. Seán already told the court that after arriving at the church grounds he phoned gardaí, who soon arrived on the scene.
The trial continues today.
