Ballyvaughan man guilty of murder

A NORTH Clare man who strangled a woman before dumping her body into the sea will be sentenced to life imprisonment this Thursday.

 

Colm Deely (41), of School Road in Ballyvaughan, has been found guilty of murdering Deirdre McCarthy (43), between 11pm on March 27, 2011, and noon the following day. He had pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

A jury of seven women and five men found Deely guilty by unanimous verdict after two hours and 58 minutes of deliberation at the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday.

Ms McCarthy’s body was found on Fanore Beach four days after she went missing but Deely did not take part in the search to find her. The court heard that after her body was found, Deely had attempted to take his own life by stabbing himself in the stomach and was hospitalised.

Ms McCarthy was a mutual friend of Deely’s and he had known her for up to 20 years. She was also a friend of Deely’s wife and was a witness at their wedding.

Witnesses at the trial said they were not aware that Deely and Ms McCarthy were romantically involved. She was socialising in a local pub with friends, including Deely, on the night she went missing.

The accused’s sister, Catriona Lucas, told Paul Greene SC, prosecuting, her brother rang her the day after the body was found.

Ms Lucas said Deely told her he and Ms McCarthy had been “together” and she told him that “he could forget about the money and she wanted more,” saying she would tell his wife and two boys.

Deely told gardaí he went to Ms McCarthy’s house where he said he was drinking a lot of vodka and the pair were lying on the bed.

“We were kissing and cuddling, I can’t remember if we had sex,” he said. “She said, ‘you can forget about your money’…she was laughing at me,” Mr Deely said.

“I must have rolled over and was holding her by the neck… it all happened in a flash,” he said.
When asked in the interview if putting his hands around her neck caused her death he said, “I’d say so but I did not mean it”.

“I was just lying on the bed… I put my hand on her neck and hurt her.”

“I panicked… I did not know what to do,” he said.

Deely said he removed her from the house by “half lifting and half dragging her” and when he put her in the car, she was not breathing nor answering him.

“I stopped the car… I put her over the wall… she rolled down to the sea… Jesus, I didn’t mean any of it,” he said. “I lifted her out and put her over the wall… I could hear her rolling down to the sea. I meant none of it to happen… something went out of control,” he said.

Assistant state pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar gave evidence that the cause of death was asphyxia due to manual strangulation and that blunt force trauma to the head, trunk and extremities was a contributing factor to the death.

Another pathologist, Professor Jack Crane, giving evidence for the defence, told the court that bruising found on the body did not indicate Ms McCarthy was assaulted before she died.

In his summary, Mr Justice Barry White said there were “two horses being run” by Mr Deely’s counsel – one of provocation and one of absence of intent.

“It would be perverse of you to decide there is no unlawful killing in this case,” said the judge.

“This is a case where the accused man must be at least convicted of manslaughter,” he added.

He said the defence counsel had raised the issue of provocation, which can reduce what should be a murder conviction back down to the level of manslaughter.

The judge said provocation was a combination of words or actions, which so affect a person that he loses complete control of himself at the time of the wrongful act so that he is not master of his own mind.

Paul Greene, SC, prosecuting, told the jury in his closing speech it seemed beyond a doubt that there was an unlawful killing. He said the idea of intending to kill or cause serious injury does not require months of planning.

“One can spontaneously reach a point where they intend to kill or cause serious injury,” said Mr Greene.

He said the law recognises a person can lose self-control and that a manslaughter verdict is a concession for human frailty. “But is there evidence of the loss of self-control given what you know about Colm Deely?” he asked.

Mr Greene said there was no predisposition to violence and that the court was told Mr Deely is not a man to lose his temper. He said there was nothing to prove Mr Deely had a propensity to lose self-control.

“But he wants us to believe that on this occasion he did lose self-control,” said Mr Greene.

He said Mr Deely did nothing to try and find help for Ms McCarthy and did not ring the emergency services.
Martin Giblin, SC, defending said his client stayed at home because he wanted to work and live around Ballyvaughan and was not seduced by bright lights. He said he did not have a great standard of education and was not a very articulate man.

“He’s doing his best to explain a terrible event for which he is very sorry. He knows he has brought terrible shame on her and his family,” he added.

He said his client must be held accountable for the death but asked them to return a verdict of manslaughter.

Mr Justice Barry White remanded Deely in custody until sentencing.