Murder trial jury sent home

The jury in the case of a man on trial for murdering a 28-year-old whose body was found in the boot of his own car, will resume its deliberations at the Central Criminal Court tomorrow morning.

Stephen Penrose, of no fixed abode, has told the jury that he killed David Sharkey at an apartment in Parkview, in Navan in May last year, but he denies murder.

Giving evidence in the case, Penrose (aged 27), told the court that he was a heroin addict when he killed Mr Sharkey, having started smoking the drug after his baby girl died.

He broke down in the witness stand as he apologised to Mr Sharkey's family, saying “I'm so sorry...I never meant for this to happen.”

Penrose said that he'd planned to rob heroin from Mr Sharkey when he arrived at the apartment at 8.30pmt on the evening of May 17, to sell him drugs. But the plan went wrong when Mr Sharkey pulled out a knife and demanded the money for the drugs.

Penrose said he'd hidden a knife in his trousers which he used to stab Sharkey, who was coming towards him with the knife.

The father of one sustained 13 stab wounds. The knife penetrated his heart twice and also went through his shoulderblade.

Penrose said he panicked and decided to put the body in the boot of Sharkey's BMW. He drove it to Dunsink Lane in Finglas where he was planning on burning the evidence, when the gardaí arrived and he ran away.

He was arrested two days later and confessed to the killing.

In his closing speech to the jury, senior prosecuting lawyer, Mr Paul Green SC, urged them not to engage in a sympathetic analysis.

“You might disapprove of the fact that David Sharkey was engaged in an activity that is a scourge to society. You might have sympathy for Stephen Penrose who has given evidence and comes across as someone who regrets his actions. But you are engaged in a cold and clinical analysis.”

He referred to the fact that Penrose bought the knife in Tesco in Navan at around 3pm on the day in question. After receiving a text to say that Mr Sharkey was ready to meet him, Penrose replied saying “ get him to leave it till six o' clock...den I be ready for him.”

Mr Green told the jury this was “highly suggestive” of Penrose's state of mind at the time. “ It casts a shadow over his unsustainable position that this was all a terrible mistake” he said, describing the incident as a “well-hatched, well planned operation.”

“(Penrose) would have you believe that what he did afterwards was out of panic and what he did before was out of desperation for drugs” Mr Green said. But referring to the 13 stab wounds, he suggested there most have been “something else to it.

Penrose's defence lawyer, Mr Patrick Marrinnan SC, acknowledged that his client used excessive force. “But no more than he thought was necessary because he lost control. The extent of the injuries, which could be seen as overkill, is evidence of that.”

He drew attention to the fact that Penrose confessed to the killing immediately after his arrest and “long before” he knew there was CCTV footage of his movements that evening.

He said the notion that the killing was planned and premeditated “defies logic.”

He urged them to consider the CCTV cameras covering Parkview, the fact it was not a quiet location – the apartment being next to a Spar and a pizzeria – and that it was all done in broad daylight.

“How suspicious can that be? Is this the sign of something premeditated...something cunning? I suggest to you that notion defies common sense.”

The jury will resume its deliberations in the morning having spent just over two hours considering its verdict today.