Millie Martin murder: Toddler victim of ‘vile abuse’

The prosecution in the Millie Martin trial has said that the toddler was the victim of “vile sadistic abuse” that culminated in her murder.

The barrister said Barry McCarney, who denies murder, had not given evidence and had failed to answer questions in a case that “cries out for explanation from him”.

“Instead he has chosen silence,” the barrister said.

He said Millie suffered non-accidental injuries over a 10 week period.

He asked if it was coincidence that this was when Barry McCarney had installed himself into the Martin household.

He said Rachael Martin had failed to protect her own daughter.

He said she did not need hindsight but she needed to “open her eyes and see what was going on in her own house with her own daughter.”

He said the suggestion that Rachael Martin had sexually abused and killed her own daughter was “nonsense”.

He told the jury: “Millie’s life was short, sad and cruel. Do justice for her”.

In her closing statement Barry McCarney’s barrister said it was their case that Rachael Martin had assaulted her own daughter.

She said she had failed to seek medical help for Millie’s injuries. She said Miss Martin knew exactly what was going on but didn’t want attention drawn to it.

“She didn’t want the doctor, the social services involved not because Mr McCarney was doing these terrible things with her permission, but that she was doing these things herself.”

The jury will continue to hear closing submissions from defence lawyers.