Changed passport name was a ‘gesture’

A CLARE woman accused of hiring a hitman to kill her partner and his two sons told gardaí she obtained a passport with her partner’s surname as a “gesture” to him a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Sharon Collins, aged 45, with an address at Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road and Essam Eid, aged 52, an Egyptian man with a Las Vegas address have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to kill PJ, Robert and Niall Howard between August 1, 2006 and September 26, 2006. Collins also denies hiring Eid to kill the men.

Eid denies demanding €100,000 from Robert Howard to cancel the contracts. He also denies breaking into the Howard family business at Westgate Business Park and stealing two computers and other items.