‘Lying Eyes’ plans to document time in jail with book

THE woman, who used the pseudonym Lying Eyes in the soliciting of a hitman to kill her partner and his two sons, is to write about her experiences and her time in jail.

Sharon Collins, aged 48, from Kildysart Road, Ennis, lost her appeal against the conviction for soliciting the hit on PJ Howard and his sons, Robert and Niall. She is to serve out the remainder of a six-year jail term handed down in 2008.

Yesterday her solicitor, Eugene O’Kelly, said the Clare woman was disappointed, but not devastated by the appeal court ruling.

“She is relieved the waiting for the appeal decision is over and can concentrate on her future now,” her solicitor said.

Mr O’Kelly also said Collins felt vindicated in taking the appeal as all of the three conspiracy convictions were thrown out on appeal.

He confirmed Collins “is anxious to tell her side of the story on the circumstances that led her to be jailed and her experience in prison”.

He disclosed: “She may very well put pen to paper and seek to have something published at a later stage.”

Although Collins had given her version of events during the trial, the solicitor said: “By writing about her experience, she will have more time to reflect and not be in the pressurised situation of being cross-examined in the Central Criminal Court”.

Ironically, Collins’s ambitions to have a work published and having a writing mentor on the internet, Maria Marconi, formed part of her defence.

She told gardaí that in response to an email from Ms Marconi, she replied “with a view to writing something and getting some assistance with it and contacting a publisher”.

Collins blamed Ms Marconi for the Lying Eyes email address during the case.

It was, however, the prosecution’s case that Ms Marconi did not exist.

Mr O’Kelly said yesterday: “Sharon realises her experiences in prison would be of interest to people. She has a rare insight into prison life and has found herself in a place that she would not have expected herself to be.

“If she wants to do it, she has little enough time left in the peace and quiet of the prison. Perhaps, it is an ideal writing environment for her.”

He added that Collins, due to release in December 2012, “finds it extremely difficult in prison but is making the best of it”.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said last night: “There is no specific provision in the civil law code which prohibits an ex-prisoner from profiting from the publication of a book concerning their crime after their release.”