Galway man not guilty of murdering cousin
A 30 year-old Galway man has been found not guilty of the murder of his cousin at the Central Criminal Court today.
The jury of eight men and four women took less than half an hour to bring in an unanimous verdict of not guilty to a charge of murder and not guilty to a second charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life against Mr Patrick Harty.
Mr Harty, a traveller with an address at Carrowbrowne Halting Site, Carrowbrowne, Headford Road, Galway, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of his cousin Thomas Harty, aged 26, at Woodlands Park Halting Site, Ballymorris Road, Co Laois over four years ago.
The victim was killed by two shot gun wounds to the chest and back after he was shot in his bed by two intruders as he slept with his wife and family in their caravan on Sunday 16 May 1999.
Mr Harty also denied the possession of a firearm charge.
Mr Harty sat alone in the dock and looked nervously towards the jury as they re-entered courtroom No 4 at the Four Courts.
He showed no emotion when the not guilty verdict was read out. Members of both the deceased and Mr Harty's families were present in court.
The jury of eight men and four women retired at 11.40am today after Mr Justice John Quirke recounted all the evidence of the six-day trial.
He reminded them of the dangers of convicting on uncorroborated evidence and told them they had to be sure that Mr Harty's statement to the gardaĂ was voluntary and true.
"You must consider very carefully every aspect of those circumstances that gave rise to these admissions. It's very dangerous to convict in the absence of corroborative evidence.
"No other evidence has been produced by the State to link Patrick Harty to this crime apart from the statement taken by detectives Healy and Clancy," said Mr Justice Quirke in his address to the jury yesterday evening.
In an alleged confession to gardaĂ in July 1999 Mr Harty said he was forced against his will by his father and brother into driving the getaway car for the two men who broke into the victim's caravan and shot him.
Neither of the two men were ever charged with murder.
In his address the judge also told the jury it should not be swayed by feelings of sympathy at the account it heard of the accused man's low level of intellectual ability.
The case lasted six days in the Central Criminal Court.
