A Connemara man, John "Demesne" McDonagh, was yesterday jailed for life for the murder of a schoolgirl, Siobhan Hynes, on a remote beach near Carraroe, Co Galway, in December 1998.
After three days of deliberations, a jury in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin found McDonagh, a 27-year-old builder's labourer, of The Demesne, Keeraunbeg, Carraroe, guilty of the rape and murder of Siobhan Hynes (17), of Sconse, Lettermore, Connemara at Tismeain beach in the townland of Keeraunbeg in the early hours of December 6th, 1998.
Shortly after 11.15 a.m. yesterday, the jury of nine women and three men returned unanimous verdicts of guilty of murder, and guilty of rape with an object. The jurors had spent 11 hours considering the verdicts, and were given the option of returning a majority verdict an hour before they delivered their unanimous decision.
Cries of "Yes" echoed from the Four Courts' Round Hall outside the courtroom as the second of the verdicts was relayed to supporters of the Hynes family outside.
McDonagh threw out his arms and said in a low voice: "Oh for f . . . 's sake, ni dhearna me e" [I didn't do it].
Under the law, McDonagh could not be identified until he was convicted, and the public was excluded from the 28-day trial. When he was giving his own evidence, McDonagh had relatives of Ms Hynes excluded from the court because they were not directly connected with the case.
When the jury's verdicts were announced yesterday, his parents, Maggie and Johnny McDonagh, and his two brothers and three sisters broke down. They had supported him throughout the case.
Emotional scenes followed as gardai, local people and Siobhan Hynes's best friend, Jayne Lee, hugged the murdered girl's parents, Aindi and Brid Hynes.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Smith, rose until calm was restored. When he returned, sentencing on the rape conviction was adjourned to July 23rd at the request of the defence.
Mr Justice Smith said: "In relation to the murder, I am obliged under statute to impose a sentence of life imprisonment, and I do that now."
McDonagh's defence counsel, Mr Barry White SC, said he would reserve his position on seeking leave to appeal the convictions.
McDonagh put his head on the courtroom bench, crying. With his family surrounding him, he sat crying for several minutes after sentence was passed. He cried out "Jesus Christ" and later banged his fist off the bench top.
A total of 146 witnesses gave evidence during the trial.
Supt Jim Sugrue told the court that when gardai arrested McDonagh at 5.45 a.m. at a lorry compound in Co Kildare on June 17th, 1999, he extended his wrists to be handcuffed and said: "Put them on, I was expecting ye".
Ms Hynes had celebrated her 17th birthday a week before she was murdered. She was raped by McDonagh, who then tried to choke her. After leaving her for dead, he drove his car back to Carraroe village and became involved in a fight.
Ms Hynes disappeared from Carraroe village at around 12.50 a.m. She left a car parked outside a local hotel to go to the toilet in a local chip shop, but she never came back. Earlier, when she tried to go to the toilet in a local pub, a doorman refused her entry because she was under-age.
Crucial fibre evidence linked McDonagh to Ms Hynes. Dr Louise McKenna, of the State Forensic Science Laboratory, found "numerous" fibres on the jumper McDonagh wore that night which matched Ms Hynes's petrol-blue polyester fleece jacket and wine acrylic jumper. She also found fibres on the front and back of his jumper which matched fibres from Ms Hynes's black socks.
Fibres from the fleece and the wine jumper were also found in the front passenger seat of McDonagh's car, and fibres from his red fluffy car-seat cover matched two red fibres found on Ms Hynes's clothes.
Dr McKenna said the fibres lent "very strong support to the proposition that Siobhan Hynes was in contact with John McDonagh's jumper and strong support for her being in his car."