Woman pleads not guilty to murder of husband

A woman has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court, charged with murdering her husband at their Westmeath home 23 years ago.

Vera McGrath has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 43-year-old Bernard Brian McGrath on a date unknown between March 10 and March 18, 1987.

Her co-accused, Colin Pinder, of Liverpool, England has also pleaded not guilty to murdering the father of four at Lower Coole, Coole, Co Westmeath.

A jury of four women and eight men has been sworn in to try the case. The trial will begin on Friday and is expected to last three weeks.