Jury told man is not guilty of murder but to consider manslaughter

A Judge at the Central Criminal Court has instructed a jury to find a man not guilty of murdering 83-year-old Christy Hanley but to consider whether or not the accused is guilty of manslaughter.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said: "I take the view that there is a reasonable possibility that he [the accused] did not intend to cause serious harm."

At the beginning of the trial, Noel Cawley (aged 47), of no fixed abode, but with a previous address at Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Hanley at his home on Bridge St, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, on May 21 last year.

He has also pleaded not guilty to robbing Mr Hanley of an unknown sum of money at the same address on the same date.

It is the prosecution's case that Mr Cawley tied Mr Hanley up, robbed him and beat him to death.

Mr Justice McCarthy said: "I have to decide whether or not there is sufficient evidence for the jury, on the prosecution case, to the find the accused guilty of every element of the charge.

"In murder it must be proven that there was an unlawful killing caused by the actions of the accused with the intention to kill or cause serious injury.

"The accused must be presumed to have intended the natural or probable consequences of his actions."

Mr Justice McCarthy said that the prosecution must have excluded the possibility that the accused "did not have the intention to kill or cause serious injury".

The jury will listen to closing speeches from the prosecution and the defence this afternoon.