The father of murdered child Santina Cawley has told how he’s been targeted by internet trolls who wrongly blame him for his daughter’s death.
In the second part of our exclusive interview with Michael Cawley today, the devastated dad of tragic Santina, two, says he has been hurt by unfounded claims that he “neglected” his child - and insisted he has “no guilt” over leaving her with killer Karen Harrington on the night of July 5, 2019.
“This is not about neglect. Santina was never neglected. I left her with a person I thought I could trust,” Michael said.
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“I don’t have any guilt. As far as I am concerned, I left my daughter with someone I 100% trusted. I never thought she could do this.
“I can’t start saying I hold guilt when I don’t hold guilt. If I could change things of course I would change everything - not meeting Karen - anything like that,” he said.
Evil killer Karen Harrington, 38, was this week convicted of Santina’s murder - with the court hearing how she inflicted 53 horrific injuries on the child when she was alone with her in her apartment in Elderwood Park, Cork.
And speaking today, Michael says he wishes Karen had murdered him instead of his child.
“I’d never put Santina in any harm. If I could change things around I would prefer it if it had been me.
“I would prefer if Karen killed me that night, truly from the bottom of my heart, that Karen had put a knife through my heart, because that’s what it feels like now - she might as well have.
“I feel dead inside,” he said.
The murder trial heard how Michael had left Harrington with his child - and CCTV evidence and blood evidence would completely back-up his story to gardai that he was not present in the apartment when his daughter was murdered.
Nonetheless, despite all of that Michael says he’s now being targeted on social media by individuals who have blamed him for his daughter’s death and accused him of “neglect.”
“I’m being bullied online. I seem to be getting painted as having neglected Santina by trolls who are giving a false definition of my character.
“Santina was never neglected and this case was not about drugs. I didn’t take any drugs, and nor is it about drinking or going to a house party beforehand.
“I left my child at the end of the day with someone I thought I could trust.
“These people making these comments are not looking into it and haven’t read the facts of the case.
“Every mother and father out there has used a babysitter and anyone out there that says they haven’t is a liar,” he said.
“When people are saying I neglected my daughter - there was never any neglect.
“I never thought in a million years something like this could happen. This was beyond my imagination,” he said.
During the trial the court heard how Harrington and Michael had had an argument before he left her apartment in the early hours of the morning - and she later beat Santina to death, leaving the heartbroken father to return to find her badly injured body.
Michael says that argument also wasn’t a red flag and gave him no signs that she was about to harm his child - and in fact he believes the fight would’ve been resolved by morning.
“That argument, we would have talked about it that next morning and we would have sorted that out the next morning.
“Anyone with any proper bit of knowledge knows it’s never nice to argue if there’s drink involved. It’s better to leave it at that.”
But as the devastated dad left the apartment, Karen took her rage out on Santina - leaving him with a horrific sight to return to.
“When I came back Karen was lying down on the couch.
“When I saw my daughter under a blanket I looked at Karen and said what did you do to my daughter? `She then took on running,” Michael said.
The grieving dad’s comments come after he told yesterday how he believes Karen Harrington should be given the death penalty.
“This should never happen again to any child in Ireland.
“I would like if the death penalty could be brought back to Ireland for circumstances like this. I would prefer if that was the law,” he said.
“That is my wish for her.”
Michael says he not only wishes he could take back that horrific night in July 2019 - but also his ever meeting and forming a relationship with the woman who murdered his child.
“I’m haunted by the horrors of it. I wish I could pull back time and never meet Karen in the first place,” Michael said.
Just what he went through on that night and the days that followed is still too painful for Michael - and he says he will be dealing with that grief for years to come.
“She was such a beautiful child. I loved her so much. It breaks my heart that she’s gone,” he said.
“I remember her every day like it was yesterday. It’s hard to move on from it but I do have to learn how to live with it, as hard as it is,” he said.
“I don’t want to end up in a grave. I have to try and make space in my own life now and let the grief to one side and my anger about it on the other side.”
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