‘Mary’s hope is it will give others the strength to seek justice’

AFTER a 31-month wait for justice, Mary Shannon arrived two minutes late.

After a three-hour drive from Ennis, Ms Shannon and her three sisters missed the start of the Judge CJ Murray’s reading of a defining moment of her life to the Court of Criminal Appeal. By the time they arrived in the courtroom the judge was explaining how it, unlike the Central Criminal Court before it, had taken the trauma of the Clare mother of three on board. Yesterday her sister Sarah Shannon said the occasion was a marked difference from the other occasions when they made the journey to Dublin to hear a judge’s decision.

“Judge Paul Carney didn’t even bring into his decision what effect it had on Mary. It was all about Adam Keane’s circumstances and the fact, if you were drunk, you had less responsibility. Mary thought that verdict was wrong and that is why she fought it.”