Murder accused 'watched video while waiting for co-attacker'

A Dublin woman accused of murdering her violent partner ate biscuits and watched videos with him while waiting for her co-accused to arrive and attack him, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

When the double murder trial of Jacqui Noble and Paul Hopkins resumed in evidence today after two weeks of legal argument, the jury heard that as she awaited Hopkin’s arrival, Jacqui Noble watched "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and ate Mikado biscuits with the deceased man, Derek Benson.

In a statement given to Detective Garda Andrew O’Keefe four days after the killing, she admitted Derek Benson "was meant to be hurt" - possibly "put in a wheelchair" - because of his violence towards her.

She told gardaí: "I wanted him hurt … but not killed."

The state’s evidence is that Jacqui Noble, a mother of one from Ballymun, contracted Paul Hopkins for some IR£3,000 (€3,800) to murder Mr Benson. The court has heard that the deceased was hacked to death, probably with a sword.

The court has also heard claims by the accused woman that she was beaten repeatedly by Mr Benson and was hospitalised twice as a result.

In her statement, Ms Noble said she sold the heroin substitute physeptone to Paul Hopkins on a number of occasions and that he had used her flat to smoke heroin. She was also "on gear".

Some weeks before the killing she told Hopkins about Derek Benson’s beatings and claimed he offered to do something about it. She wouldn’t mind him getting a hiding, she replied, maybe even "put into a wheelchair … this would help me get away from him".

"I had gotten Derek a hiding 11 years ago," she told gardaí, but the beatings continued.

In her statement of May 17, she alleged that she and Hopkins agreed a price of IR£3,000 (€3,800) for the planned assault.

They arranged for her to be present at Benson’s flat where the assault was to take place and let him [Hopkins] in. The evidence was that Ms Noble had moved in to her parents' home at nearby Knowth Court months before the killing.

At around 9pm she arrived at Benson’s flat and they watched videos. Some hours later, Hopkins arrived.

"He walked in and I walked out," she said. A short time later, when she was back at Knowth Court, she received a call from Benson’s neighbour, Claire Kealy. "She told me the flat was on fire. I knew something had gone wrong, I felt sick… Derek was never meant to be killed, hurt yes, but not killed."