Mary Murphy, the mother of Brian Murphy who died during a fracas outside Club Anabel in Dublin in 2000, said yesterday the truth of what had happened to him could have come out if statements by two pathologists had been put to a jury.
Mrs Murphy was speaking to The Irish Times following the decision of the DPP to enter a nolle prosequi in the manslaughter case against Dermot Laide on Monday. Mr Laide's original conviction on a manslaughter charge was overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal, and a retrial was ordered, which was due to start on Monday.
The DPP decided not to proceed with the prosecution when he received a report from the State Pathologist, Prof Marie Cassidy, based on photographs and other materials collected following Brian Murphy's death.
This report differed from the original pathology report from the then state pathologist, Prof John Harbison, who was too ill to attend the retrial. Prof Cassidy attributed the death to the trauma of head injury combined with the effects of alcohol consumption, while Prof Harbison said it was due to head injury alone.
Mrs Murphy said Dermot Laide, in his statement following his discharge on Monday, had quoted the report of Prof Cassidy as fact which cleared his name and that of others, when the report was her opinion, never tested before a jury.
The father of Brian Murphy, Denis Murphy, said yesterday that an acquittal following a full hearing of the manslaughter charge against Dermot Laide would have been easier to deal with than the DPP's decision not to press ahead with the prosecution. This outcome made it very difficult to move on, he said.