An elderly Kerry man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his brother in January 1996.
When he was arraigned before Mr Justice Carney at the Central Criminal Court yesterday, Mr Sean Daly (72), of Dooneen, Kilcummin, Killarney, Co Kerry, pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing Mr Patrick Daly (69), with intent to kill or cause serious injury, on or about January 18th, 1996, at the same address.
Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, defending, had earlier asked Mr Justice Carney to allow the trial to proceed at the first available opportunity this week. His client was a very old man who had "great difficulty coping with the strangeness of the court," Mr MacEntee said. "He's 72, he's infirm," he added, requesting that a jury be sworn in.
The judge agreed to the request, and a jury of eight women and four men was sworn in. Mr Daly's trial is set to begin next Thursday morning.