Updated: 12 pm
Triple murderer Andy Cash, who inflicted hundreds of stab and slash wounds on his siblings before throwing the body of his eight-year-old brother out of the first-floor window of their Tallaght home, has been given three separate life sentences at the Central Criminal Court.
Gardaí who responded to the multiple homicides told the court that the scene they encountered was one of "carnage".
"Our three innocent children were viciously taken from us and that was the day the world stopped turning," the victims' mother Margaret McDonagh, along with other family members, wrote in a victim impact statement that was read to the court.
"What is left is our broken family and every day since has been unbearable.
"We miss everything about them, hearing their voices, their laughs, the conversations we would have, the games we would play as a family, the hugs and kisses that we won't ever get from them again."
They said there are not enough words to describe the pain and hurt that is in the hearts of their family and the pain that they have to live "with every second of every day since".
"The only thing that hurts more than losing them is knowing how much they have missed out on, how they never got to finish school with their friends or learn how to drive a car or get the chance to see the world.
"It's not just what was taken from us that hurts, it's how their whole lives were taken from them, before they even had a chance to live them."
Mandatory life sentences
Andy Cash (26) pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday morning to the murders of 18-year-old Lisa Cash and her eight-year-old twin brother and sister, Christy and Chelsea Cawley, at their family home in Rossfield Avenue, Tallaght, Dublin 24, in the early hours of September 4th, 2022.
The testimony was heard as part of an emotional and powerful victim impact statement before Cash was sentenced to three mandatory terms of life imprisonment for murdering his three siblings.
The sentences were backdated to September 4th, 2022, when he went into custody.
Detective Garda Robert Whitty told prosecution counsel, Sean Gillane SC, that when gardaí arrived at the scene, it was one of carnage.
All three victims had suffered "catastrophic" injuries, having been stabbed multiple times.
A post-mortem examination of Lisa Cash's body revealed 71 slash and stab injuries to her face, neck, chest and limbs. There were also signs that she had tried to defend herself during the attack.
Victim impact statement
Christy suffered 107 sharp force injuries before being thrown out a first-floor window of the house, while his sister Chelsea was stabbed and slashed 65 times.
The family's victim impact statement continued: "There is no amount of time a person can spend in a jail cell that will justify what has happened to our family.
"Lisa, Christy and Chelsea deserved so much more from life. They deserved to grow old and live their lives however they would have chosen to, and to have families of their own.
"They were the most beautiful, kind, and loving children in the world. We will cherish every memory made with them and love and miss them forever."
Mr Brendan Grehan SC, defending, told Mr Justice Paul McDermott that his client, also of Rossfield Avenue in Tallaght, had asked him to say he is sorry for his actions and sorry to all the people he has hurt.
Earlier, Mr Grehan said Cash could be arraigned on all counts on the indictment.
Cash appeared in court for the arraignment on Tuesday morning and spoke only to answer "guilty" when each of the three charges were read to him by the registrar.
A previous hearing of the case heard gardaí from Tallaght Garda station, supported by armed detectives and members of the armed support unit, responded to the attack. During a stand-off, officers used non-lethal devices to arrest Cash.
Members of the children's family were present in court for the hearing.
By Alison O'Riordan and Eoin Reynolds
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