Majella Holohan criticises comments by trial judge

The mother of Robert Holohan, the 11-year-old schoolboy killed in Co Cork in January 2005, has reportedly criticised remarks made by the presiding judge in the killer's trial.

In a speech at UCC last night, Mr Justice Paul Carney made a thinly-veiled reference to comments made by Majella Holohan during the sentencing hearing for Wayne O'Donoghue.

Ms Holohan departed from her victim impact statement to ask why the prosecution had never introduced evidence of semen on her son's body.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said last night that this had led to O'Donoghue being wrongly branded as a paedophile killer by the media and had left him with "no future in this country".

He also warned that anyone who wilfully abused the victim impact procedure would be dealt with firmly by his court.

Ms Holohan is quoted this morning as saying she is "offended and hurt" by the remarks and would not have done justice to Robert if she did not mention the semen.

She says she understands that some matters cannot be put before the jury for legal reasons, but her remarks were being put before Mr Justice Carney to show how the crime had impacted upon her, rather than being directed at the jurors.