State case against three will rely on circumstantial evidence

THE CASE against three Englishmen charged with possessing €440 million worth of cocaine for sale or supply in west Cork will rely heavily on circumstantial evidence, prosecution counsel Tom Creed SC told the jury yesterday.

Giving an outline of the State's case to the jury, Mr Creed said the prosecution case would involve looking at mobile phone records, the purchase, registration and technical examination of vehicles and the examination of two rented houses in west Cork.

Mr Creed said that it would be the State's case that a cliff and coastal rescue team from Goleen were called to the scene of the emergency on July 2nd, 2007, and met two men leaving the area who told them that there was a man floating in the water who needed help.

The rescuers thought it was strange that the men were going in the opposite direction to where someone was in difficulty.

It would be the prosecution case that the two were Perry Wharrie and Joe Daly, who were arrested two days later near Schull, he said.

Mr Creed said that the State would present evidence relating to the purchase of three Landrovers in the UK in November 2006 along with the hire of a black Volkswagen Passat by Perry Wharrie's wife, Karen, at Dublin airport in June 2007.

Mr Creed said that Perry Wharrie travelled from Faro to Dublin using the alias, Andrew Woodcroft, and that three days later he was put on the car's insurance as a named driver and that they travelled to Wexford.

He said the prosecution would produce evidence that Mr Wharrie attended a dentist in Wexford under the alias Andrew Woodcroft and got painkillers and antibiotics there under that name, and that a dental appointment card for Andrew Woodcroft was found in field near Dunlough bay.

"The prosecution say that this was evidence that the man was there," said Mr Creed.

He added that gardaí also found fingerprints belonging to Mr Wharrie on a map and a Christy Moore CD in the Passat where they also found original passports for Gerard Hagan and a Stephen Brown.

Mr Creed said gardaí found a green Landrover Defender at the scene and the State would produce evidence that a toothpick found in the vehicle contained Mr Wharrie's DNA, while an ordnance map also found in the vehicle contained a fingerprint belonging to Joe Daly.

The prosecution would also produce evidence concerning a blue Landrover Defender to show Joe Daly and Martin Wanden travelled from Pembroke to Rosslare in the vehicle towing the ballistic Rib on June 15th, 2007, and there was footage of the men together at Pembroke Docks.

There would also be evidence relating to a red Landrover Discovery which was bought at about the same time and registered to a Paul Young who gave Mr Daly's home in Bexley, Kent, as his address while they also found Mr Daly's fingerprints in the vehicle.

Mr Creed said that there would also be CCTV footage of the accused and others socialising together.

Moreover, he added, while there appeared to be a lot of coincidences in the case it was a matter for the jury to decide if they were indeed coincidences.