Court fixes date for Nevin appeal

The Court of Criminal Appeal has fixed a date in early April for the hearing of part of convicted murderer Catherine Nevin's bid to have her conviction for the murder of her husband Tom declared a miscarriage of justice.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has fixed a date in early April for the hearing of part of Catherine Nevin's bid to have her conviction for the murder of her husband Tom declared a miscarriage of justice.

At the CCA today Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman was told that a motion brought on behalf of Nevin is now ready to proceed.

The judge fixed Friday, April 3 next for the hearing of the application. The hearing is expected to last for one day.

The CCA was due to hear Nevin's application for an order requiring the DPP to answer the question whether three witnesses at her trial William McClean, Gerard Heapes and John Jones were ever State informers, and whether Mr McClean had paramilitary connections last month.

However that was adjourned following a request from Ms Nevin's legal team.

On that occasion Counsel for Nevin Hugh Harnett SC, who had only come into the case some weeks earlier, asked Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman asked for an adjournment because they were not ready to proceed due to certain difficulties.

He told the court that in light of those difficulties it would be unfair to his client to go ahead with the case.

In her action Nevin is seeking an order that the DPP disclose a range of material and documents which she claims is relevant to her claim of a miscarriage of justice.

It is contended the documents sought, including material on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 and garda security files on the three men, are relevant and will assist her in undermining the three men's credibility.

Nevin also claims the documents may potentially undermine the credibility of another State witness at her trial, Patrick Russell.

The DPP has opposing handing over the material and contends the issues raised were already considered at Nevins' trial at the Central Criminal Court and during her appeal.

Catherine Nevin (aged 55) was found guilty after a 42-day trial in April 2000 of the murder of her husband Tom at their pub, Jack White's Inn, Brittas Bay, on March 19, 1996.

She was also convicted on three counts of soliciting three different men to kill her husband in 1989 and 1990, six years before his murder.

She is serving a life sentence on the murder charge and a concurrent seven-year term on the soliciting charges. Nevin's appeal against her conviction was dismissed in 2003 by the CCA.