The children of a Dublin man accused of the murder of his wife gave evidence yesterday in his defence.
Mr John Diver (60) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife, Geraldine (42), who was found strangled in her car outside Buckley's builders' providers on Robinhood Road, Clondalkin, on December 2nd, 1996.
Yesterday the defence called the 17-year-old daughter and 13year-old son, who cannot be named by order of the trial judge, Mr Justice Smith.
The children gave evidence that their father went out on the night of their mother's death, but not during the time in which she was killed. Both denied under cross-examination that, when they spoke to gardai days after the killing, they had given different times for when their father had been out.
Video security footage, already seen by the jury, suggests that Mrs Diver was strangled some time between 9.40 p.m. and 10.02 p.m. on December 2nd, 1996.
Mr Diver told the jury that he went out to get chips at the Regent's Palace takeaway in Walkinstown shortly after 9 p.m. on the same night, and on his return went out for another two or three minutes to get noodles, returning home at 9.20 p.m., or 9.25 p.m..
Mrs Diver's daughter told Mr Edward Comyn SC, prosecuting, that her father left the house at about 9.05 p.m. or 9.10 p.m. and returned at 9.20 p.m. or 9.25 p.m.
"The second time he went out it was about half-nine," she said. He was out then for about five minutes, she said.
Mr Comyn put it to her that in a statement on December 28th, 1996, she had told gardai that "it seemed ages he was gone".
"I was hungry so it would have seemed ages to me," she told the court yesterday.
The prosecution counsel said that in a statement given on December 5th, 1996, she had told gardai: "We waited until Dad came back before we had the chips. It seemed for ages that he was gone, but as far as I can make out, he was back by twenty to, or a quarter to, 10."
Mr Diver's daughter said yesterday: "When I said it seemed like ages he was out, I was referring to the first time."
She said when her father came back the second time he had said that it had started to drizzle and so he was not going down to the shop for the noodles. There were "a few drops of rain on his jacket", she said. He was back by 9.35 p.m. or 9.40 p.m., she said.
The daughter agreed that her father used to refer to her mother as being "all dressed up" but denied that the words he used were "dressed up like a tart".
She said her father might have said something like "She's gone to see her fancy man", but if he had it was said jokingly.
Mr Diver has denied that he knew his wife was having an affair with a Superquinn bacon counter worker, Mr Ray Roche.
John and Geraldine Diver's son, now aged 13, told Mr Brendan Grehan, defending, that his father left the house at 10 past nine and returned at around halfpast nine. He knew both times because he checked his watch, he told the court. When his father went out the second time, he was gone for two to three minutes.
The schoolboy was also cross-examined on those times. He told Mr Shane Murphy SC, prosecuting, that he had told gardai when they spoke to him days after the killing that his father was out for two to three minutes the second time. He denied that he said it was a half-hour .
He also denied that he had asked his father: "Where were you, you were gone a long time?" or that his father had replied: "Sorry, I was strolling back."
Mr Murphy asked the boy if he had ever talked to his father about how long it took to get to the Regent's Palace chip-shop. He replied: "No", but went on to tell Mr Murphy that once his father had walked with him to the chip shop, and when they got there, had said: "How long did that take?"
He denied that he told gardai that he looked at his watch at 9:45 p.m. and his father was still not back, or that he had said his father returned at "around 9:55 p.m."
The boy agreed with Mr Brendan Grehan that he and his sister had been living with their father since their mother's death. He agreed that his evidence in court yesterday was consistent with evidence he had given during the trial depositions stage of his father's case at the District Court in July 1998.