A 45-YEAR-OLD woman has been acquitted of murder but found guilty of the manslaughter of a new age traveller whose body was found dumped in a slurry pit at a farm in west Cork almost four years ago.
She and another woman who had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter will appear for sentencing before the same judge in Dublin in June. At the end of the trial yesterday, Una Geaney, originally from Fermoy in Co Cork but with an address at Mullinagleamig, Dingle, Co Kerry, was convicted of the killing of Gary Bull (37) at Shanlaragh, Dunmanway, Co Cork, on or about September 23rd, 2007.
Following seven days of hearing at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, the jury of eight men and four women returned after deliberating for six hours and 37 minutes to find Geaney not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter by a 10 to two majority verdict.
Mr Justice Paul Carney remanded Geaney in custody for sentence at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on June 7th, and he directed the preparation of a victim impact statement.
Geaney waved to some friends in the public gallery before being taken into custody.
Earlier, the judge remanded a co-accused, Jason Thomas (40) with an address at Mount Pleasant Road in Exeter, England, in custody for sentence on the same day at the Central Court in Dublin after he pleaded guilty last month to Mr Bull’s manslaughter.
A third co-accused, Amanda McNab (26), a native of Scotland but living at Mullinagleamig, Dingle, Co Kerry, had earlier also pleaded guilty to Mr Bull’s manslaughter and had been remanded in custody for sentence on June 7th.
Mr Bull was originally from Hertfordshire, England. but was living in a mobile home at Kilmichael in west Cork at the time of his death, having previously lived among a new age traveller community in Coole Mountain since 2004.
The trial heard Mr Bull and his former partner, Clare Freeman, had broken up about a month before his death after he had an affair but both attended a party at a house in Shanlaragh on Friday, September 21st, where a lot of drink and drugs were consumed.
By Sunday afternoon, Mr Bull was described as spoiling for a fight and challenging everyone and blows were exchanged with another man, John Kearns, prompting Mr Bull to go to his Range Rover and get his concrete saw which he began waving at Mr Kearns.
However, another man, Gareth Buckingham, struck Mr Bull across the face with a piece of wood and Ms Freeman struck him about the face in an argument about the affair.
The court heard that at this stage Mr Bull was anxious to go home. The prosecution argued that Geaney had decided that Mr Bull would not leave the house that night because she was afraid he might come back with friends and cause more trouble and evidence was given that Geaney and McNab admitted killing him.
Peter Donohoe told the trial that he met Geaney and McNab on September 24th and they told him what happened.
“Una said she hit him [Mr Bull] with some kind of mallet and there were some lads there and they may have hit him first – they knocked him out.
“Una and Amanda tried to resuscitate him but when he came around, he verbally abused them and they started to fight with him,” he told the court.