Mobile phone evidence played crucial trial role

TELEPHONE evidence in the Wayne O’Donoghue trial was crucial in establishing the whereabouts of Robert Holohan on the day of his death.

That evidence also established that Wayne had telephoned Robert before and after the death.

In her explosive victim impact statement (VIS), Majella Holohan made allegations over the times recorded on Robert’s mobile phone.

On day seven of the trial, the court heard Robert had taken a photograph of a poster in O’Donoghue’s bedroom on December 28.

The phone’s clock registered the picture was taken at 7.32am, which if correct would have placed Wayne and Robert in the same room early in the morning. However, on day nine, defence counsel Tim O’Leary, SC, read out a statement ruling out such an early time.

A witness working in the Xtravision store in Midleton that day recalled selling the phone to Robert, the boy she had known since he was four years old. Crucially, Robert’s visit was captured on the store’s CCTV.

The prosecution did not argue about the statement, which proved Robert could not have been in O’Donoghue’s bedroom at 7.30am.

The 6am call Majella Holohan said O’Donoghue made to Robert was not brought up in court and neither was the 999 call she referred to. O’Donoghue’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer, has since said the 999 call could have been made by mistake when Robert was playing. The 6am time can be explained by the mobile’s internal clock being set incorrectly.

Detectives who got records from O’Donoghue’s phone company were able to say accurately when the calls were made - but did not raise with him the issue of any alleged 6am call. They concentrated only on calls from the afternoon of January 4 onwards. Records proved that O’Donoghue called Robert’s mobile phone at 9.19pm and 9.39pm - when the boy had been dead for hours.

Asked by detectives why he made the call, O’Donoghue said: “To keep up the pretence.”

The trial was also told O’Donoghue telephoned Robert after the boy got his mobile on December 28.

Day seven of the trial heard from O2 mobile phone company engineer, Ivan O’Flynn.

He said mobile phone records tracked the whereabouts of Robert on January 4 as:

* 2.35pm: A call from the mobile to another phone - placing Robert at home.

* 3.15pm: Robert received a text message.

* 3.16pm: Robert sent a message.

* 4.14pm: Unanswered call from a mobile was made to Robert as was a landline call - placing him between home and Ballinacurra.

* 5pm: Robert’s phone gave out two signals, 32 seconds apart - placing the phone between Aghada and Inch.