Jury in axe death trial sent out

A jury in the trial of a Cork man accused of murder at the Central Criminal Court were sent this evening to a hotel and will tommorow morning resume their deliberations.

A jury in the trial of a Cork man accused of murder at the Central Criminal Court were sent this evening to a hotel and will tomorrow morning resume their deliberations.

After deliberating for three hours and nine minutes, the jury were unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Mark Allingham, aged 23, of Fr Murphy Place, Midleton, Co. Cork.

Allingham has pleaded not guilty to the killing of Gerard Hackett, aged 49, of the Cork Simon Community and Reen Downey Place, Cork City on a unknown date between October 16, and October 21, 2002.

Today before the jury were dismissed to begin their deliberations, Mr Patrick McCarthy, SC, for the prosecuting counsel said the accused "tinged his defence to avoid the consequences of his actions"

"There is no doubt that Mr Allingham killed Mr Hackett, what we, as the prosecution say, is that he did it with intent", said Mr McCarthy, SC.

"Self defence doesn't arise in this case", he told the jury.

During the past five days of the murder trial, the jury saw Mr Allingham admit to gardaí - in a recorded video interview - to hitting Mr Hackett with an axe seven times in the head after he allegedly tried to have sex with him at a derelict house known as The Rock, Towns Park, Midleton, Co Cork.

Mr McCarthy outlined to the jury a number of alleged inconsistencies with Mr Allingham's statement of events.

The defence, Mr McCarthy, SC, said, say there was a purported sexual advance by the late Mr Hackett. "But there was no semen found on the underclothing of Mr Hackett or on Mr Allingham".

Mr McCarthy, SC, then told the jury of three women and nine men in the fifth day of the murder trial, that Allingham states that Hackett dropped his trousers in a attempt to have sex with him.

"But in his statement, it is Mr Allingham that says he removes Mr Hackett's pants and underpants".

"When you look at the evidence, Mr Allingham doesn't want to get caught.

"He uses a false name when he makes the 999 call and he tries to destroy evidence including trying to burn the body," Mr McCarthy added.

Mr John O'Kelly, SC, for the defence told the jury today that the prosecution say that Mr Alligham staged a clever defence but in reality that was not the case.

When he was arrested on Sunday 21 October, 2002, Mr O'Kelly says Mr Allingham on the account of gardaí was "so drunk that he was described by gardaí as stumbling around,"

"Mr Allingham was down and out, had no education, no chances in life, he had previously been abused. Sex is something that is very deep. We don't know what reaction we would have if we were provoked, especially if we had a load of drink inside us," Mr O'Kelly, SC said in his closing speech today.

The jury are due back tomorrow before Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan.