A COURT application which is part of Catherine Nevin’s legal moves to have her conviction for the murder of her husband declared a miscarriage of justice has been adjourned at the request of her lawyers.
Granting the adjournment at the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman warned the court was not prepared to let the matter “drag on”.
The appeal court had been due on Monday to hear Nevin’s application for an order requiring the DPP to state whether three witnesses at her trial – William McClean, Gerard Heapes and John Jones – were ever State informers and whether Mr McClean had paramilitary connections.
The case will be mentioned before the appeal court again this month but the application is unlikely to proceed until late March.
Seeking the adjournment, Hugh Harnett SC, for Nevin, said his side was not ready to proceed on Monday due to certain difficulties and it would be unfair to his client to proceed in light of those. His side wished to reconsider the matter and efforts would be made to have everything done in as short a time as possible.
Tom O’Connell SC, for the DPP, said he was not objecting to the adjournment application.
Mr Justice Hardiman, noting the proceedings had been before the appeal court for some time, said it was “deplorable” the matter was not ready to proceed. Because the State had no objection, he would adjourn the matter. However, he was not prepared to let the matter drag on.
Nevin is seeking an order requiring the DPP to disclose material and documents which she says are relevant to her claim of a miscarriage of justice. It is contended the documents, including material on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 and Garda security files on the three State witnesses, are relevant and will assist her in undermining their credibility. Nevin also claims the documents may potentially undermine the credibility of another State witness, Patrick Russell.
The DPP is opposed to handing over the material and has argued the issues raised were already considered at Nevin’s trial at the Central Criminal Court and also during her appeal.
Nevin (55) was found guilty in April 2000 of the murder of her husband Tom at Jack White’s Inn in Brittas Bay on March 19th, 1996.
