Murder trial told of abortion ‘price list’

Suspected murder victim Sandra Collins would have paid a total of £295 sterling had she gone ahead with her plans to terminate her pregnancy in Britain, it emerged yesterday.

Michael Nevill, associate director of nursing at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, gave evidence about the ‘price list’ for terminations in December 2000 around the time the 29-year-old Mayo woman disappeared.

The price charged for an assessment was £50 while the charge for terminating an early pregnancy was £245 — a total of £295.

Mr Nevill was giving evidence on the fifth day of the trial of Martin Earley at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Castlebar, into the death of Sandra Collins, Courthouse St, Killala, at a place and date unknown on or about December 4, 2000. The 49-year-old construction worker denies the charge.

It emerged earlier in the trial that Ms Collins was pregnant and had been in contact with a UK abortion service about a termination.

On December 9, 2000, four days after Sandra went missing, a pink fleece belonging to her was found on Killala Pier.

In the pockets of the fleece were found a packet of sausages and two wet pieces of paper which contained phone numbers. One was that of Mr Earley and another was for an abortion clinic in England.

Mr Nevill yesterday gave evidence of accessing records about phone calls to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service number in Birmingham from a phone number in Killala.

The abortion clinics most commonly used by women travelling to Britain from Ireland were either those in Liverpool or London, for reasons of transportation, Mr Nevill explained.

John McCormack, a retired detective sergeant, was questioned yesterday by Micheál O’Higgins, defending, as to why Ms Collins’s pink fleece was not found until December 9, 2000. even though there was evidence of a civilian sighting of it on December 6.

Mr McCormack replied that he was unaware of the December 6 sighting.

Mr O’Higgins also questioned why the pieces of paper with the phone numbers in one of its pockets were not discovered for some days after the garment had been recovered.

Mr McCormack said the fleece was soaking wet when found, was covered in mud, had been driven over by vehicles, and was “an absolute mess”. It needed to be dried out when searched.

A packet of sausages purchased by Ms Collins in Birrane’s Shop, Killala, on the day she went missing was in another pocket.

During cross-examination, Mr McCormack said he took the sausages to Ballina Garda Station but they disappeared from his desk, before he could photograph them or have them examined. They were possibly taken by a cleaner, he said.

A pair of jeans recovered in Killala harbour could not be positively identified as belonging to her by her aunt, Ann O’Grady; or sister, Bridie Conway.

The trial continues.