THE jury in the Shannon Development fraud trial was sent to a hotel last night after failing to reach a verdict on the 16 charges against Clare Fianna Fail councillor Mr Enda Mulkere.
Judge Kevin Haugh decided to adjourn further deliberations until 10.30 a.m. today after the jury had already spent 3 1/2 hours considering the evidence and submissions it has heard over 11 days at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Mr Mulkere (48), a father of four, of Carrownacloughy, Crusheen, Co Clare, is denying 16 charges of obtaining money by false pretences from contractors and of causing or attempting to cause Shannon Development to pay sums to contractors by false pretences on dates from October 1991 to June 1992 while he was an employee of SFADCo.
Two of the charges allege he obtained cheques from McCarthy Brothers and Company (Ennis) Ltd; 10 of the charges allege he obtained cheques from Madden Pipelines Ltd and Madden Planthire Ltd; and the remaining four charges that he caused sums, or attempted to cause sums, to be paid to the contractors by Shannon Development, by falsely pretending the entirety of the monies was lawfully due to them.
Mr Mulkere received more than £84,000 in six cheques from McCarthy's and 30 cheques from Madden's in the period covered by the charges.
Mr Jack McCarthy and Mr Thomas Madden claimed in their evidence that the accused sought the money to pay subcontractors for small jobs done on behalf of SFADCo.
They also claimed he told them they would be reimbursed through extra payments on contracts they were carrying out for SFADCo.
Evidence was also given that Mr Mulkere instructed consultant engineers to include extra amounts on various certificates being issued to the contractors.
The jury heard contractors had to be paid within 10 working days of SFADCo receiving an invoice based on the certificates.
Mr Mulkere agreed he got the £84,000 from the firms but denied in evidence he told them it was for paying subcontractors on behalf of SFADCo.
He told the jury he asked two men he believed were "close friends" for the money as personal loans to help him over serious financial difficulties.
He said he clearly indicated his "requirements" every time he asked for cheques and that the contractors knew in advance how he would use each one.
He said he promised to repay them in full by the end of 1992 when he hoped to have taken early retirement and perhaps been elected to Dail Eireann.
But for some reason he said he could not understand, they "reneged" on their agreement with him and "put another spin" on the matter.
Mr Mulkere in his evidence agreed he used some of the £84,000 to deal with overdrafts and arrears on various accounts. He agreed also he bought two cars, a tractor, a horse, and cattle and that he took £14,000 in cash when negotiating some of the cheques.