Jury to begin deliberations today

BOTH sides have given their closing speeches at the Central Criminal Court in the trial of a Cork painter charged with murdering a local widow.

The prosecutor told the jury that if ever there was a murder, then the killing of 60-year-old Anne Corcoran was it.

Oliver Hayes, aged 49, of Clancool Terrace, Bandon, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but not guilty to murdering her between January 19 and 21, 2009, after abducting her from her farmhouse at Maulnaskimlehane, Kilbrittain. Hayes also admits falsely imprisoning her in his house and stealing €3,000 from her bank account following her death.

John O’Kelly SC, prosecuting, reminded the court of the defendant’s admission that he deliberately targeted the woman for money, seeing her as a soft target.

“This was a human being whose life was snuffed out by a cold, calculating robber,” he said, pointing out that Hayes had brought rope to tie up his victim to frighten her into giving him her bank card and details.

The barrister said that Ms Corcoran gave him the details but had seen his face, home and the route they took there. It wouldn’t have taken the gardaí 20 minutes to find the house, he suggested.

“When she was no longer necessary and had become a liability, he murdered her,” he said. “It was going to be very inconvenient if Anne Corcoran ever woke up because she was going to be able to identify him without any problem.”

When he put this to Hayes in the witness box earlier, he said she lay face down in the car and he had covered her eyes as he dragged her into his house.

He had not mentioned this to gardaí. Mr O’Kelly described it as one of many stories he invented when faced with evidence, and asked the jury to assess his credibility.

“He’s a very clever and sometimes convincing liar,” he said, describing him as “amazingly confident” in his initial denials to gardaí.

Mr O’Kelly reminded the jurors that intent to cause serious injury was also enough to bring in a murder verdict.

“You heard Dr Carson say that unconsciousness is classified as a serious injury,” he said, referring to the defence witness, pathologist Dr Derek Carson.

“He intended to knock her unconscious,” he said of Hayes, who admitted that he deliberately knocked out his victim.

Earlier he put it to Hayes that he had shown no remorse. “Your only pity is for yourself,” he said. “We had to listen to you describe the pity you had for the dogs. You didn’t have an ounce of pity for that woman.”

Hayes agreed that the two things on his mind after killing her were to get his hands on her money and destroy any evidence.

Blaise O’Carroll SC, defending, suggested that if Ms Corcoran had given his client her PIN and bank card earlier there would still have been a robbery and false imprisonment but maybe no death.

He said Ms Corcoran had asked his client not to put anything over her head when he was abducting her and so he had not. “So there’s a tiny glimmer of humanity in there,” he said.

He also referred to Hayes’ testimony that he gagged the widow after she gave him her bank details and before he knocked her unconscious.

“Why put a gag on someone if you had any intention of killing them?” he asked.

He disagreed with Mr O’Kelly’s argument that “if you knock someone unconscious, that’s serious injury – game, set and match”.

“While Oliver Hayes embarked on a mad escapade that night, he had no intention of it ending up the way it did,” he said, reminding the jury that the defendant would have to pay the price for the unlawful killing and false imprisonment no matter the verdict.

Mr Justice Paul Carney has begun charging the jury, which will begin deliberating today.