Walsh trial hears closing arguments

The two sides in the trial of a Waterford man accused of murdering his wife have been making their closing speeches at the Central…

The two sides in the trial of a Waterford man accused of murdering his wife have been making their closing speeches at the Central Criminal Court.

Bus driver Mr John O¿Brien (41) with an address in Ballinakill Downs, Co Waterford denies murdering 35-year-old Meg Walsh on a date between 1st October 2006 and 15 October 2006, somewhere within the State.

The mother of one¿s body was recovered from the River Suir on October 15th 2006. She had died from blunt force trauma to the head. She also had injuries to her shoulder, arms and hands.

Speaking for the prosecution, Mr Dominic McGinn BL told the jury of seven men and five women that they should not allow themselves to be swayed by any ¿sympathy or emotion or prejudice.¿

He said that it was a difficult case to decide because there were certain gaps in the prosecution case. It was impossible to tell where Meg Walsh was killed, when she was killed, where the body was disposed of in the river, when it was disposed of or how it was disposed of. However he said that, taken together, all the pieces of evidence pointed to one inescapable conclusion.

Mr McGinn said Mr O¿Brien¿s accounts of his movements between October 1st and October 2nd were full of discrepancies and did not tally with independent evidence. In particular, the period of Sunday afternoon and Monday evening were largely unaccounted for.

He told the jury that there was ¿only one inescapable conclusion from the evidence and that is that John O¿Brien is guilty of murder.¿

Speaking in Mr O¿Brien¿s defence, Mr Paddy McCarthy SC told the jury that the prosecution case had required them to ignore their duty to presume his client¿s innocence.

He said that no forensic evidence had been found in the house or in Mr O¿Brien¿s car that would suggest he had anything to do with killing his wife. He said that the gardai had clung to a false presumption that the only way Mr O¿Brien¿s DNA could have got into the boot of his wife¿s car was when he cut away a heavily bloodstained section and this had poisoned their approach towards his client.

Mr McCarthy said that sighting of the silver Charisma coincided with times when Mr O¿Brien was giving a statement to gardai and that if he was not driving the car then the real murderer must have had an extra key to the car.

He said this inconsistency blasted a hole through the evidence of the gardai and the State. ¿In those circumstances I invite you to acquit Mr O¿Brien.¿

Mr Justice Barry White told the jury he would begin his charge tomorrow and would expect them to begin their deliberation around lunchtime.