A former girlfriend of the man who shot Melanie McCarthy-McNamara (16) has been found in contempt of court after she failed to turn up as a witness at his trial.

Stephanie Tuite (20) with an address at Glenshane Crescent, Tallaght in Dublin claims she was too petrified to testify against Daniel McDonnell (19) who was jailed for life for the murder last Friday.

The Central Criminal Court jury heard evidence that the McNamara was shot in the head while sitting in a car in Tallaght with her boyfriend and another man at Brookview Way, Tallaght on the evening of February 7th 2012.

She was not the intended target.

After his arrest Daniel McDonnell of Brookview Lawns, Tallaght wrote a letter from his cell in St Patrick's Institution to Stephanie Tuite boasting about the killing, using phrases like 'two in the head, the bitch is dead, ha ha'.

The letter was intercepted by prison guards as part of the normal censorship process and became a key piece of prosecution evidence. Stephanie Tuite was due to testify at the trial but never showed up.

A warrant was issued for her arrest last Thursday and was executed at her home in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

'Clear and blatant contempt'

Garda Sinead McCormack gave evidence that Tuite had called in sick to work and had left home to go stay with a friend for the duration of the trial.

She was brought before Mr. Justice Paul Carney this morning who found she had deliberately gone to ground and that her absence from the trial was a 'clear and blatant contempt of court'.

Vincent Heneghan BL, acting for Ms. Tuite, issued an apology on her behalf and told the court she had been terrified as this was an execution type murder.

He said the she was in great fear of Daniel McDonnell and others who may be associated with him. 'Her fear was a very real fear', he said.

Mr. Justice Carney described the killing as nothing less than an assassination.

He said having withstood a very prolonged and vigorous interrogation by gardai, Daniel McDonnell could not resist writing to his then girlfriend to boast about what he had done.

He said as the intended recipient, Stephanie Tuite could not have been a more important witness and that her contempt warranted a 3 months sentence.

However he noted that the trial had not been derailed and he accepted that finding out she had been the girlfriend of an assassin who was prepared to execute a 16 ½-year-old girl and then boast about it was 'clearly a terrifying experience for her'.

In recognition of the fact that she has no previous convictions and that a conviction in this instance might blight her life by preventing her from travelling to the USA, Canada or Australia, he said he was anxious to deal with the matter by way of the Probation Act.

He called Stephanie Tuite to the stand and she gave an undertaking to respond to any future court summons.