Nevin trial witness sees case dismissed

A man who gave evidence in the murder trial of Catherine Nevin cannot continue a legal action against a newspaper over an article stating he tried to sell it photographs of him and Mrs Nevin naked in bed together, the High Court has ruled.

William McClean, one of two men whose testimony formed part of Mrs Nevin’s eventual conviction in 2000 for the murder of her husband Tom, claimed the Sunday World defamed him in an April 2000 article which, he said, falsely stated he offered the photos to the paper’s then crime correspondent, Paul Williams, for a payment of IR£10,000 (€12,700).

He claimed the article also libelled him in a number of other respects, including saying he “bragged about his sexual prowess” during his conversations with Mr Williams. He was also defamed he said as the paper falsely stated, among other things, he was involved with serious criminals like the late Martin Cahill and was a suspect in the Dublin/Monaghan bombings.