Victim's mother tells how the man who killed her daughter nodded and grinned at her as she stood in the courtroom, writes Mary Minihanin Elche, Alicante
PAUL HICKEY yawned at least eight times in court yesterday, including when a list of the horrific injuries he inflicted on the mother of his three children, Celine Conroy, was read aloud.
Earlier, he had emerged from a police van in handcuffs, having spent three years in custody here in Spain. Tall and youthful- looking, he wore Nike trainers and a bright white tracksuit with navy detail. The brand name Lacoste was stitched into the upturned collar of his tracksuit top. His dark hair was closely cropped.
Hickey was brought in to the courtroom in Elche´s Plaça Reis Catòlics through a side entrance.
Downstairs, in the basement outside the courtroom, a court employee's frequent shouts of "Por favour, silencio!" were generally ignored by the large contingent of Irish and Spanish media.
She resorted to wolf-whistling in an attempt to restore order.
Outside the women's toilet, an interpreter was attempting to explain the news that a plea bargain had been entered on Hickey's behalf to the mother of Celine Conroy, Sandra.
The many relatives and friends of the Conroys who had made the trip to Spain then gathered in an animated huddle. Their Spanish lawyer could be seen in the middle of the group, gesticulating in his shirt sleeves. "It seemed as if the lawyer was trying to convince them to accept," an interpreter working on the case said.
Shortly after noon Spanish time, Hickey was led in. He looked at the reporters and photographers assembled outside the courtroom and stuck out his tongue as the cameras flashed.
The courtroom itself was small and modest, with the judge and clerk sitting behind a low pine bench.
Hickey faced them, sitting in a hunched position with his brow furrowed and his fingers interlaced.
His Spanish interpreter murmured a barely audible continuous translation in his ear. Hickey yawned repeatedly.
The Conroy family were not in the courtroom but when the judge allowed a 10-minute break, Ms Conroy's mother Sandra took the opportunity to look in at Hickey. Staggering back, she said he had nodded and grinned at her.
At this, her partner, José Ribeiro, shouted out and was taken outside by police.
Back inside the courtroom, a green-uniformed member of the Guardia Civil sat behind Hickey with the keys to his handcuffs resting on her thigh.
Towards the end of the proceedings, just before the jury was sent out, Hickey's handcuffs were removed to allow him to sign an official document, then quickly replaced.
As he left the court smiling, relatives and friends of the Conroys shouted insults at Hickey and he responded: "Shut your mouth, you." One of the insults was "scumbag", which had puzzled Spanish reporters asking their Irish counterparts what this curious word meant.
When the jury was brought back in, the Conroys were told only one family member would be allowed into the courtroom.
There was immediate consensus it would be Ms Conroy's mother, Sandra.
She sat at the back, her eyes fixed on Hickey's back.
Outside the courthouse, supporters of the Conroys jeered Hickey as he was driven away.