Court told how man threw petrol over Katrina Rainey and set on fire while trapped in car

A court has heard of how a woman, murdered by her husband, was able to tell police in her dying moments how he attacked her.

The judge was told how Thomas Rainey, 61, threw a bucket of petrol over his wife, Katrina, and set her on fire while she was trapped in her car, to murder the mother-of-six in front of her children.  

Some 90% of Katrina Rainey's body was covered in burns.

The 53-year-old's children tried to save her on 12 October 2021, outside her home on the Quarry Road on the outskirts of Knockloughrim.

Thomas Rainey, 61, pleaded guilty to murder in May after always denying the killing. 

Mrs Rainey's family sat in court and listened to the harrowing detail of her husband's action.

They heard how when the emergency services arrived at the scene she was being cared for by her children who were placing wet towels on her as she lay on the ground.

The judge heard how Mrs Rainey spoke to police at the scene with her words captured on their body-worn camera.

"I was going to work," she told them.

"Got into the car. My husband opened the passenger door he threw something in a bucket over me and then held onto my fleece and lit me with a lighter. 

"I had my seat belt on and I could not get out, though I tried to. I needed to get some help so I put my hands on the horn."

When asked why he had attacked her, she said she wanted him out of the house and had been to see a solicitor.

Katrina was sedated and then taken to hospital where she later died.

Rainey's defence told the judge: "This is a man who is horrified at what he has done."

The prosecution said they didn't recall a "case of this type" ever in Northern Ireland describing it as "gratuitously violent".

The judge described Katrina Rainey's murder as the "ultimate act domestic violence".

He initially claimed that after getting to at 5am to tend to cattle, his wife Katrina said goodbye to him as she was leaving for work. Rainey also told police he then heard a car horn, looked outside and saw her car on fire. He said this prompted him to run out and lift a bucket sitting beside the gate which he threw into the car to try and dampen the flames. Saying this version of events was untrue, Mr Weir said: "The victim was vulnerable. She was an unsuspecting spouse preparing to depart for her work in the early morning. "She was trapped in her car and she was prevented - as she describes it - from either defending herself or being able to escape." The prosecutor also spoke of the "infliction of extensive injuries" which he would have caused "agony before death" and said he couldn't recall a case of this type before in Northern Ireland.

Defence barrister Greg Berry KC, representing Thomas Rainey, told Mr Justice O'Hara that prior to the fatal incident there was no history of domestic abuse.

Mr Berry spoke of his client's difficult childhood, his "long history" of depression and mental illness and the impact the death of one of his six children in an accident had upon him. Regarding a motive, Mr Berry said his client was "deeply attached" to the family farm - and that the prospect of losing it, set against a backdrop of "mental fragility", had a "profound effect" on him. The barrister added that Rainey expressed "contrition and remorse" for what happened to a Probation Officer and is "a man who is horrified by what he has done." After listening to submissions from the Crown and defence, Mr Justice O'Hara said he would pass sentence next Wednesday, July 5.

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