A British forensic pathologist has described as "unsafe" evidence given by the former State pathologist Prof John Harbison at the trial of a Co Galway man who was convicted of the murder of an elderly woman over 25 years ago.
Dr Basil Purdue was giving evidence before the Court of Criminal Appeal in an appeal by Michael Joseph Kelly aimed at overturning his 1983 conviction for the murder of Margaret Glynn. Kelly (87), who has always maintained his innocence, was jailed for life and released on licence about a decade ago.
Kelly (54), Castleblakeny, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, was convicted in March 1983 of the murder of Ms Glynn at Keeves, Ballinkore Bridge, Co Galway, in November 1981. The bodies of Ms Glynn and her brother Martin were removed from their house after a fire. Mr Glynn was found to have died of natural causes.
The prosecution claimed Mrs Glynn died of asphyxia due to manual strangulation. It was alleged Kelly, who was working for the Glynns at the time, had strangled Ms Glynn and then set fire to her bed.
The appeal court had earlier decided Kelly was entitled to call evidence in the appeal relating to photographs taken at the autopsy carried out on Ms Glynn which were not made available to the defence at the trial.
Dr Purdue, who examined the autopsy photographs for Kelly, said yesterday a number of them did not sustain the prosecution case that bruising on her neck and face meant she was strangled.
Dr Purdue told Anthony Sammon SC, for Kelly, that the photographs did not safely show evidence of bruising to Ms Glynn's neck or face.
Dr Purdue, who works for the British Home Office, said he disagreed with Dr Harbison's diagnosis that Ms Glynn's injuries suggested that she had bruising to her neck. It was impossible to say if there was any compression to her neck, he said.
The photos showed "such a degree of decay" to Ms Glynn's body that it would be "unsafe" to diagnose bruising. Dr Purdue said that as a result of the decomposition, the cause of death should be recorded as "unascertainable".
Dr Purdue was aware that due to other work commitments, Dr Harbison was unable to carry out the autopsy until 24 hours after the body was recovered.
He told Tom O'Connell SC, for the DPP, that while he agreed with him that the photographs had their limitations, he said bruising could not reliably be diagnosed from any of the photos to the required criminal standard of proof.