Anabel's case verdicts 'baffled lawyer'

A LAWYER for the man convicted of the manslaughter of a teenage student outside Anabel's nightclub nearly five years ago told the three-judge Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday they are baffled as to how the verdicts in the case were rendered.

Michael O'Higgins SC, for Dermot Laide, said his side had great difficulty with the situation and it had left them with a deep sense of unease which they invited the court to share.

Counsel was making closing submissions on the fourth and final day of the appeal by Laide, aged 23, of Rossvale, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, who was jailed for four years for the killing of Brian Murphy outside the nightclub at the Burlington Hotel on Sussex Road, Dublin, on August 31, 2000.