A Dublin civil servant was yesterday convicted at the Central Criminal Court of the manslaughter of her husband.
After five hours of deliberation, the jury reached a majority verdict of 10 to two, finding Dolores O'Neill (50) not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, in accordance with her plea.
O'Neill had denied murdering her 46-year-old husband, Declan, on or about July 22nd, 2002, at the family home in Coolamber Park, Knocklyon, in Dublin.
Members of the dead man's family wept as the verdict was read out, and Mr Justice Carney took the unusual step of inviting Mr O'Neill's brother, Brian, to tell the court the effect the death had had on them.
Mr Brian O'Neill said: "We have lost a member of our family, who we deeply loved, and whose character this court is not aware of. What we heard in court was not our brother."
Mr O'Neill also drew from the evidence of the former State pathologist.
During the trial, Prof John Harbison declared that the deceased had been a healthy man. This, Mr O'Neill said, was evidence that his brother was not a heavy drinker.
Addressing the jury of six men and six women, Mr O'Neill said he was disappointed that they had not heard both sides of the story.
"You have made up your mind from what you heard in court," he said. "I will not fault you for your decision. The fault lies with the justice system in this country."
During the six-day trial, Prof Harbison testified that Declan O'Neill died as a result of multiple blows to the head. He detected at least 24 marks from a blunt instrument to that area.
In her evidence Dolores O'Neill spoke of a painful marriage, with the first outburst of violence from her husband two weeks before their wedding in 1978. She recounted events of his drinking, when he would frequently leaving the family short of cash for household expenses.
She told the court about verbal as well as physical abuse, recalling one occasion when he told her: "I'm mixing with people now who can make people disappear."
When asked why she had never secured a barring order, she said the stigma attached had prevented her.
"I wanted his best interests, wanted to help him . . . I still loved him. Declan knew I still had feelings for him and he toyed with them," she said.
Her husband had had various affairs and left home throughout their marriage.