Nadine Lott trial
A jury will return to the Central Criminal Court on Thursday to consider its verdict in the trial of a man accused of murdering his former partner Nadine Lott by inflicting “severe blunt force trauma” injuries to her in a “sustained attack” in her Arklow home.
The jury of seven men and five women began considering their verdict on Wednesday morning and have spent a total of four hours and 18 minutes deliberating in another courtroom in the Criminal Courts of Justice building.
At 4pm today the registrar at the Central Criminal Court asked the foreman if they had reached a verdict on which they all agreed. He replied: “No”.
Mr Justice Michael MacGrath said he would adjourn proceedings until Thursday morning as the jury had spent in excess of four hours deliberating on Wednesday.
Electric Picnic licence
Laois County Council have refused to grant Electric Picnic organisers a licence to hold this year’s festival.
In a statement, the Council said they have made the controversial decision due to “the most up-to-date public health advice made available to the Council by the HSE".
The statement added: “Furthermore, it is noted that under current Government measures for the management of Covid-19, events of this nature are restricted to 500 people only.”
The Council has dealt a massive blow to promoters, Festival Republic and MCD, who on Monday gave the local authority a list of 12 reasons why they believe the festival, held in Stradbally, Co Laois, should go ahead late next month.
Kanturk inquest verdict
The jury at an inquest into the deaths of a father and two sons in Kanturk, Co Cork in October 2020 has returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Mark O’Sullivan (26) and verdicts of suicide in the cases of both Tadg (60) and Diarmuid O’Sullivan (23).
Tadg and Diarmuid shot Mark in a dispute over who would inherit the family farm in north Cork and had been planning the murder for at least a couple of days, the inquest heard on Wednesday.
Former nurse Anne O'Sullivan (61) lost her entire immediate family, her husband and two sons, on October 26th last year in the shooting incident. She was terminally ill at the time and has since died.
The inquest at Mallow District Court heard that after his death a letter written by Mark was found in his mother's pharmacy bag, in which he detailed feeling distraught after coming under pressure from his brother and father about what would happen to the family farm following the death of Anne.
Zappone UN role
Former minister Katherine Zappone has decided to turn down a Government appointment as a special envoy to the United Nations after criticism about the manner of her nomination.
In a statement by email, Ms Zappone said: “While I am honoured to have been appointed by the Government to be the Special Envoy on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, it is clear that criticism of the appointment process has impacted the legitimacy of the role itself.
“It is my conviction that a Special Envoy role can only be of real value to Ireland and to the global community if the appointment is acceptable to all parties.
“For this reason, I have decided not to accept this appointment, and I have communicated my decision to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.”
Team Ireland in Tokyo
Golfers Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow were the first Irish athletes in action in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Ireland's involvement in the Olympic individual showjumping event is at an end, with Cian O'Connor also withdrawing from Friday's team final.
O'Connor and horse Kilkenny finished with a clear round and one time fault in today's final, securing a seventh-place finish.
However, after the horse suffered a nosebleed, O'Connor confirmed his decision to withdraw from the event later this week.
Lunney trial closing speeches
The actions of one of the men accused of abducting and torturing Kevin Lunney are “very suspicious” but do not lead to the inevitable conclusion that he was one of the men who attacked him, the Special Criminal Court has heard.
Michael O’Higgins SC addressed the three-judge, non-jury court on Wednesday on behalf of the accused known as YZ, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Mr O’Higgins warned the court to avoid coming to a conclusion that might appear logical based on suspicion but that falls short of the required level of proof.
Mr O’Higgins said his client’s actions were suspicious and added: “I do concede that the circumstances are suspicious.”
But, he said, the circumstantial evidence pointed to by the prosecution should not lead the court to “inexorably conclude that the only reasonable interpretation is” that the men responsible are his client and two other men who were travelling in a Renault Kangoo van in Cavan on the same day.
Bray Boxing club trial
The trial of a man accused of murder at Bray Boxing Club will run on over schedule with a reduced panel of 10 jurors, the Central Criminal Court has been told.
Gerard Cervi (34), from the East Wall area of Dublin 3, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Bobby Messett (50) at Bray Boxing Club, Bray Harbour, Co Wicklow, during an early morning fitness session on June 5th, 2018.
Mr Cervi also denies the attempted murder of boxing trainer Pete Taylor and Ian Britton on the same occasion.
The trial opened before a jury of three men and nine women on June 28th and was slated to last for eight weeks.
