Evidence in the case of a Mayo man charged with poisoning four elderly women, two of whom slipped into an unconscious state for two days after a visit from the defendant, concluded at Westport Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, the fourth day of the trial. Final submissions will be made by counsel for both sides in the case against Mr John Hope (58), Bonniconlon, Ballina, who is charged with administering an illegal substance to the women against their will - the hypnotic sedative drug, Temazepam.
Judge Kevin Haugh told the jury of 10 women and two men that he would address them with his own charge tomorrow, before requiring them to consider their verdict.
At yesterday's hearing, Ms Siobhan Trodden from Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, a friend of one of the alleged victims, Ms Belinda Kelly, was the 30th witness to give evidence. Ms Trodden was cross-examined as to why she had chosen to preserve a container of fluid she found in Ms Kelly's household - part of crucial Garda evidence.
Mr Padraig O hUigeann, for the defendant, proposed that Ms Groden had preserved the evidence after hearing of the poisoning allegations.
Ms Trodden was unequivocal that she had preserved the fluid, which was subsequently discovered under forensic tests to contain Temazepam, because she thought it was a cure for Ms Kelly's ailing pet cat.
"Belinda had a cat, Bunty, which suffered from a very painful skin condition and she had been making up concoctions to treat it. I knew she had found a successful one that was working so I decided that if by chance this was Bunty's cure, I was not going to throw it out."
Ms Trodden said she was alerted to the glass of fluid after she found it between two water buckets on a worktop.