Civil servant murder trial collapses

The trial of a civil servant for the murder of her husband dramatically collapsed in the Central Criminal Court today after it emerged that certain material was not disclosed to the defence.

Before trial judge Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins discharged the jury, two Garda witness testified that the deceased man had already been knocked unconscious when he was killed in his bed, allegedly by his wife, Dolores O’Neill.

The mother of two is accused of murdering Declan O'Neill at their home at Coolamber Park, Knocklyon, Templeouge, Dublin on or about July 22, 2002. The accused, a 50-year-old civil servant with the Equality Authority, denies the charge.

The former state pathologist Dr John Harbison has told the trial jury of nine women and three men that the victim suffered 24 blows to the head with a hammer and 21 knife wounds in a frenzied attack.

Earlier today crime scene interpretation expert Detective Sergeant Oliver Cloonan, Garda fingerprint section, told the court that he examined the bedroom on the morning after the body was discovered.

From the pattern of the blood he was of the belief that the assailant was either on the bed beside the victim at the time or straddling him when the blows were struck. A portion of blood had been wiped and he understood this may have happened when the head was lifted and put back down.

He said this created a wipe stain as the hair was pointed upwards and he believed that the head had been lifted and dropped down again.

"The victim was possibly asleep when all this happened".

However, Det Sgt Cloonan agreed this had not been put into his statement and that the defence had not been given notice of this. He repeated, however, that the victim was "possibly asleep".

He had not told the prosecution either about this theory. He went on to say that from his examination of the scene, the deceased had not moved during the assault. He had drawn this conclusion from the examination of the blood spatter pattern at the scene.

The witness added that there had been several blows to the side of the head and the blows continued until the assailant was convinced that the victim was dead.

"That happened when the head was lifted and put back down," he said.

Detective Garda John Higgins, Garda Technical Bureau, also examined the bedroom and the knife and hammer believed used in the attack.

Questioned by Dominic McGinn BL, he said was also of the opinion that the deceased had not moved in the bed. There had been a smearing or wiping at the headboard and this reinforced his view that the deceased "was either asleep or rendered unconscious."

The wooden-handled hammer allegedly used in the attack was also shown to jurors, who were told that it was three pounds in weight.

Det Gda Higgins accompanied the body to Tallaght hospital and there noticed a hand mark in blood on the right of the shoulder of the deceased.

He saw more than twenty injuries of a crescent or partial moon shape to the head. There were also a number of lump-type bruises and knife-cut marks on the lower face and neck area.

He returned to Coolamber Park, carried out further examination of the bedroom and concluded that the attack had continued for a considerable amount of time because of the distribution of the blood spattered in the room.

The blood radiated at varying degrees, distances and angles and on the wall there were blood spatters at a height of seven foot six inches. There were also directional blood spatters at angles from the vertical to the horizontal spreading in an arc from the eight o'clock position to five o'clock.

Det Gda Higgins said the lack of defensive wounds and the position of the deceased's hands by his side suggested either he was asleep or rendered unconscious at the time of the attack. "It is my opinion he was asleep."

The witness added that the lack of any dynamic movement suggested that "the deceased pretty much lay where he was found during, or subsequent to, the attack". The court has heard that Declan O'Neill's blood-stained body was found on the bed partially wrapped in a duvet.

The detective garda also suggested that the attacker inflicted the fatal blows from above, or possibly from a straddling position.

Defence counsel Mr Felix McEnroy SC objected that material contained in Det Gda Higgins' notes were not contained in the book of evidence. Applying for a discharge, he said that material should have been disclosed to the defence but was not.

In the absence of the jury, defence solicitor Mr Robert Eager told the court that had this been done, it would have enabled the defence to forward material relating to blood patterns and measurements to the appropriate experts.

Mr Justice O’Higgins said it was with regret that he was discharging the jury but was doing so "without hesitation".

"It seems to me that the requirements of justice make it imperative that I do so," he added.

He said the matters complained of were "not peripheral" but stressed that the state had not willfully neglected its duties towards the defence and no blame should attach to either the prosecution or the gardaí.

He remitted the case to March 29 to fix a date for a new trial.