Jury advised in mum-of-two murder case

Mr Justice Michael Peart has told the jury in the trial of a teenager charged with murder that it must draw no inference from the fact that the accused has given no evidence. The accused, he said, needs to prove nothing.

The jury must decide if Mark Costigan (aged 18), of Aylsbury in Kilkenny is guilty of the murder of a 36-year-old mother-of-two at her home in the city two years ago. He has denied stabbing Christine Quinn to death at the house on Greenfields Road on December 5, 2002.

This morning, Mr Justice Peart began his charge to the jury, telling them that it is the State that must prove the case against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. He said they were the ajudicators and finders of fact, and that he was there as a referee.

He said they must look at the evidence of the past number of weeks in a cool, calm, dispassionate and objective way, in which emotion must play no part, and that they must not be influenced in any way by the appalling nature of the victim’s death.

Yesterday, both the prosecution and defence delivered their closing speeches to the jury.

Mr Alexander Owens, SC for the prosecution, reminded them of the forensic evidence in the case, which he described as a "silent witness".

Blood matching Mark Costigan’s DNA was found upstairs on a doorknob of a back bedroom. The same DNA was found in blood on a duvet cover and a soccer jersey in a front room. An exact match of the accused’s DNA was also found on the stair banister.

In the defence’s closing speech, Mr Paul Coffey, SC, noted the lack of his client’s blood and DNA on the murder weapons. He said if he wielded either knife while he was bleeding, his blood would have come into contact with the weapons.

He mentioned Dr Marie Cassidy’s opinion that there would have been a considerable transfer of blood from Christine Quinn to the attacker. He submitted that such a transfer was not consistent with his appearance that evening and that his mother, who did his laundry, had never come across anything that caused her concern.

Mr Justice Michael Peart is now continuing a detailed account of the evidence, witness by witness.