Inquest into Jasmine McMonagle death scheduled for Friday

An inquest into the death of mother-of-two Jasmine McMonagle has been scheduled for Friday.

The 28-year-old hairdresser was found dead at her home at Forest Park, Killygordon in the early hours of January 4, 2019.

Donegal coroner Dr Denis McCauley has listed the inquest to be heard in Donegal Town.

In May, Richard Burke, Ms McMonagle’s on-and-off partner, was jailed for 14 years for her killing. In March, a jury at the Central Criminal Courts returned a verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Ms McMonagle was found in a pool of blood in the kitchen of her home following a three-hour standoff between Burke and gardaí.

The judge noted the level of violence used against a defenceless woman that included the use of weapons. He also took into account that the victim was at home with her two children at the time.

When the inquest was first opened in 2019, Dr McCauley said that Ms McMonagle died from cerebral anoxia, a lack of oxygen to the brain.

Mr Justice Paul Burns said that despite his condition, Burke knew that what he was doing was wrong, understood the nature of what he was doing and he could have stopped himself.

The court heard that Burke threatened to kill McMonagle before strangling her to death during a psychotic episode after taking unprescribed drugs.

Mr Justice Burns noted four other occasions where Ms McMonagle expressed fear for her safety and said the death had a ‘devastating impact’ on the whole family, in particular her two daughters who now live in separate homes ‘without the guidance of their loving mother’.

There was also evidence that Burke had previously used disparaging terms to refer to Ms McMonagle and said on different occasions that he would bury her, throw her in front of a bus, ‘kill the bitch’ and indicated that he wanted to strangle her.

In a statement issued after Burke was sent to prison, the McMonagle family said: ”Nothing will bring back our beautiful Jasmine and all we can do now is make sure she is never forgotten."

The inquest was previously reopened in February of this year, but was adjourned under Section 25 (2) of the Coroner’s Act.