A murder trial has heard that senior gardaí had unrecorded meetings with one of the main suspects and explained the Witness Protection Programme to him before he gave them any information on the killing.

A senior garda has told a murder trial that he did not follow regulations for handling informants when he dealt with the case’s chief prosecution witness.

The trial of four Dublin men charged with murdering a father-of-three was adjourned for the day today after one of the jurors failed to turn up.

A father-of-two on trial for murder denied that the deceased had asked him to kill one of his co-accused before that man asked him to kill the deceased.