Murder charge reduced to manslaughter
A charge of murder against the man accused of killing 83-year-old pensioner Christy Hanley in Westmeath last year has been reduced to manslaughter.
At the outset 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 Patrick McCarthy said: "I take the view that there is a reasonable possibility that he [the accused] did not intend to cause serious harm."
During the trial, the court heard that Mr Hanley was a bachelor who lived alone in "some disarray" in his house in Kilbeggan. He was well-known at fairs and horse races and was occasionally observed with large amounts of cash.
The court heard that the accused, Mr Cawley, arrived in Kilbeggan on the day of the alleged killing after having spent the night in Mullingar with his partner and her cousins. He was wearing a baseball cap at the time.
The jury was told that a man wearing a baseball cap went into both the Black Kettle and the Saddler's Inn pubs and was present when Mr Hanley obtained €400 in cash for coins from the barman in the Black Kettle.
Evidence was heard that Mr Hanley returned home sometime before 6pm. Witnesses told the court that a man was seen outside Mr Hanley's house at approximately 6pm.
The court was told that, shortly before 7pm, a man - who was in a "panic" - flagged down a lift from people called the Slaters.
The Slaters gave evidence that this man then jumped out of the van some distance down the road, after having asked for a lift to Tullamore.
Ian Dwyer told the court that he picked up a man at the roundabout outside Kilbeggan at approximately 7pm. He saw what appeared to be blood on his passenger's trousers and told the court that the passenger said the blood was from dealings with a sick cow he'd had earlier that day.
The jury heard that a phonecall was made to Tullamore Garda Station on the morning after the alleged murder and that, around the time of that phonecall, a man wearing a baseball cap was seen at a telephone-box on Abbey St in Dublin.
The court heard that a man went into Debenhams shortly after that phonecall, got rid of his clothing and bought a new suit with cash.
The court heard also that fingerprints matching Mr Cawley's was found on a belt that had been tied around Mr Hanley's wrists. DNA identical to Mr Cawley's was also found on the belt.
Deputy State Pathologist Michael Curtis told the court that Mr Hanley "seemed to have been beaten about the head and face" and that he could have died from inhaling his blood.
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 prosecution must have excluded the possibility that the accused "did not have the intention to kill or cause serious injury".
He said that this is a case "where the injuries occurred by blows to the head. There was no evidence of internal damage to the skull, no fractures."
He said that, for a jury to consider a charge of murder, the accused "must be presumed to have intended the natural or probable consequences of his actions."
The court also heard closing speeches today from the prosecution and the defence.
Alex Owens SC, prosecuting, said money was the motive for the killing in this case. He said that the man who bought a suit in Debenhams in Dublin the day after the alleged killing was Mr Cawley.
"The only explanation that's credible is that the money had one origin and one origin alone; that Mr Cawley went into Mr Hanley's house, robbed him, and perpetrated a vicious assault on him during the robbery."
Mr Owens also referred to the fingerprint evidence. He said: "It is very difficult to envisage any reasonable explanation other than the reason put forward by the prosecution; that Mr Cawley was involved in the tying up of Mr Hanley."
Referring to the phonecall made to Tullamore Gda Station the morning after the alleged killing, Patrick Gageby SC, defending, asked: "Why would such a person ring the guards? That is strange. Why would the man who stalked Mr Hanley, tied him up, beat him, stole from him... then ring the guards the following morning and say Christy Hanley is tied up in his house in Kilbeggan?"
The jury is expected to retire tomorrow morning to begin its deliberations.
