Murder witness 'lied to gardaí'

A key prosecution witness told a murder trial she was frightened when two gunmen men entered her flat last April but denied that she was "terrified" into retracting statements implicating the accused man.

On Monday, Ms Christine Mahon withdrew her statements implicating her former boyfriend in the murder of a Dublin man in June 2003, and is being treated as a hostile witness.

In evidence, she said she lied to gardaí and also that she could not recall crucial details linking the accused, Declan Curran, aged 24, of Cardiffsbridge Avenue, Finglas, Dublin, to the murder of 33-year-old Willie O’Regan at O'Regan's home at Old Cabra Road Dublin on June 12, 2003.

The Central Criminal Court heard today that Ms Mahon made the statements days after a friend’s body was found dumped at Scribblestown, north Dublin last October.

Mr Paul O’Higgins SC, prosecuting, suggested to the witness that she retracted her statements because she was "scared witless".

"Didn’t two men come into the house in England with guns?.

"I was on crack cocaine so…that’s what I thought I saw," Ms Mahon replied, adding that she may have been hallucinating.

Counsel put it to the witness that she rang 999 immediately after the incident: "You were scared out of your wits, I suggest to you."

"I got a fright that night. I don’t know whether I was hallucinating or not but I got a fright," she agreed.

Earlier, counsel put it to Ms Mahon that she made her statements on October 17 and 18 after her friend ‘Podge’ Sheridan disappeared and his body was found in Scribblestown on October 6.

Counsel suggested she was sickened by this killing. "Too many people were being killed and you came clean about the William O’Regan killing," he suggested. "You were in fear of what may happen to you."

Counsel further suggested that after Podge Sheridan was found dead she had told gardaí: "I’m afraid for my life but I’ll give evidence in court if I have to."

"No," Ms Mahon replied, "I made it up…I lied."

She told the court that she was under Garda protection but denied suggestions that she had requested it.

The court has heard that the deceased man was shot in the head and his hand was left hanging off after two masked gunmen burst into his flat and fired five shots. The deceased man had been watching a video with his partner when he was shot.