Pensioner will be cared for at nursing home ahead of murder retrial

A Wicklow farmer with Parkinson's syndrome will be cared for at a Dublin nursing home ahead of his retrial for the murder of his brother.

Today the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Cecil Tomkins's conviction for the killing of 66 year old Walter Tomkins at the home the two bachelors shared in Cronlea, Shillelagh on July 1, 2010.

Cecil Tomkins was described by his lawyers as severely disabled at a bail application just hours after his murder conviction was quashed on appeal.

It was confirmed that a nursing home where he had previously stayed in Rathfarnham, Dublin is prepared to take him back.

The 63 year old told gardaí he shot his brother Walter Tomkins in the hallway of their Wicklow home for not following their mother's burial wishes.

He was convicted last March of his brother's murder.

On appeal his lawyers described the jury's finding as perverse in light of medical evidence.

In its ruling the court found the trial judge had failed to adequately instruct the jury on premeditation and diminished responsibilty – and that was likely to have left the jury with an incomplete and erroneous view of the law.