Solicitor 'advised client to lie to gardaí' , claims SC

A senior counsel has accused a Limerick solicitor of advising his client, a youth accused of murder, to lie to gardaí.

Christopher O'Callaghan, aged 21, of O'Malley Park, Southill, Limerick has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Michael Fitzpatrick, aged 19, of Yeats Avenue, Kincora Park, Southill outside the Olympic Arms pub on Roxboro Road on the night of June 25 1999.

Michael Fitzpatrick died from multiple stab wounds to his body.

A jury in the Central Criminal Court trial heard closing speeches from prosecution and defence barristers earlier this afternoon.

Defence counsel Mr Brendan Nix SC alleged that Mr John Devane, a solicitor with what the court heard was "an extensive criminal practice" in Limerick city, advised his client to lie to gardaí.

Mr Devane is no longer acting for O’Callaghan in the case.

Yesterday, two detective gardaí told the trial that the then 18-year-old accused, Christopher O’Callaghan told him his solicitor, John Devane, had advised him to answer "I can’t remember but if I do I’ll tell you" to questions put to him in interviews with gardaí.

A number of replies to questions put by gardaí are now being used by the prosecution as evidence against O’Callaghan.

In one question, he was asked, "What did you do with the knife"? He first replied, " I can’t remember, but if I can I’ll tell you" and later, when asked the question again, he replied, "I can’t remember where I threw it."

Mr Nix said without the "incredible, stupid, outrageous, bad advice" from his then solicitor, in all probability his client would "not be where he is today".

He was making closing submissions to the jury that the case against O’Callaghan was "not proven".

The prosecution counsel PJ McCarthy SC told the jury he would "candidly admit" that there were "inconsistencies and inaccuracies" in the prosecution evidence, but he argued there was enough evidence to convict O’Callaghan of the fatal stabbing beyond a reasonable doubt.

But Mr Nix said the prosecution case was "a mish-mash" and "a stew" and that the State had "worked backwards" to fit the crime to the accused.

If the Scottish law verdict of "Not Proven" was available in this jurisdiction, it may be the appropriate verdict, he said, but he added that in light of the evidence in the trial, the only appropriate verdict an Irish jury could return was "Not Guilty".

The jury has yet to hear directions from the trial judge, Mr Justice O’Higgins, before it retires to consider a verdict later today or early tomorrow.