Court reserves judgement in Cork murder appeal trial

The Court of Criminal Appeal has reserved judgement in the case of a man appealing against his conviction for the murder of a young Cork father three-and-a-half years ago.

John Brett (aged 27) of Leitrim Street, Cork, was sentenced to life imprisonment by Mr Justice Paul Carney in December 2008, after a Central Criminal Court jury found him guilty of the murder of plasterer Brian McKee (aged 24).

He and his co-accused Jason Quinlan (aged 31) had denied killing the father-of-one, who died after being attacked with knives and broken bottles at Ballinure Road, Mahon on August 25, 2007.

Counsel for the applicant, Mr Blaise O’Carroll SC, told the appeal court that a witness who testified at the original trial had made a complete “volte face” and given evidence different to that contained in her statements to gardaí.

Mr O’Carroll said that he had been “bushwhacked” by evidence given by Ms Rebecca Delaney, who asserted that moments before the fatal stabbing of Brian McKee she had taken a knife out her boyfriend Jason Quinlan's pocket, returned home and hidden that knife under a bouncy castle in the back garden of her house.

He said that gardaí had identified two knives found at the scene, one of which was established as being procured by Brian McKee and the other was attributable to Quinlan.

Mr O’Carroll said the defence case was made untenable by Ms Delaney’s testimony, which contradicted evidence that one of the knives belonged to Quinlan and possibly attributed one of the knives found on the scene to Brett.

He said that this fundamentally altered the case his client had to answer, as he had testified that he pursued Mr McKee and Jason Quinlan to “break-up” the fight and was not carrying any weapon at the time.

Mr O’Carroll said that Ms Delaney’s evidence also leant weight to a statement she gave to gardaí, where she asserted that she saw John Brett arrive at the scene of the killing with a knife protruding from his shoe.

He said that allowing the trial to proceed in such circumstances was an attack on his client’s “fundamental right to defend himself” in a legal system bound by a constitution which “prided itself on the right to fair procedures”.

Counsel for the State, Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC, told the court that Ms Delaney’s assertion that she had seen John Brett with a knife was not new evidence and had been previously disclosed to the defence.

Ms Ring said the only unanticipated testimony was in relation to Ms Delaney taking the knife and stowing it underneath the bouncy castle, which neither side had been given notice of.

She said this was the inherent risk contained in calling any witness and reminded the court that the defence had fully cross-examined Ms Delaney and exposed all the inconsistencies in her testimony.

Chief Justice John Murray, sitting with Mr Justice Declan Budd and Mr Justice Bryan McMahon, said that the court would return judgment at a later date.