(Pictured: Mr Patrick Quirke. Credit: Collins)

The jury in the trial of a 50-year-old farmer charged with murdering his alleged love rival and hiding his body in an underground tank will return to the Central Criminal Court for a fourth day of deliberations on Friday.

Patrick Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ going by the name Mr Moonlight.

Mr Ryan went missing on June 3rd, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry’s home at about 6.30am. His body was found in an underground run-off tank on the farm ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Patrick Quirke. Credit: Collins)

The jury in the trial of a 50-year-old farmer charged with murdering his alleged love rival, and hiding his body in an underground tank, will continue their deliberations on Thursday.

Patrick Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ going by the name Mr Moonlight. 

Mr Ryan went missing on June 3rd, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry’s home at about 6.30am. His body was found in an underground run-off tank on the farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by the accused at Fawnagown, ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Patrick Quirke. Credit: Collins)

The jury in the trial of a 50-year-old farmer charged with murdering his alleged love rival and hiding his body in an underground tank have paused their deliberations for the night and will resume on Wednesday morning.

Earlier, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon told the jury of six men and six women that they must not by influenced by emotion, sympathy, anger or disgust, and must treat circumstantial evidence against the accused with care.

Patrick Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ going by the ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Patrick Quirke. Credit: Collins)

The evidence against Patrick Quirke amounts to no more than suspicion and is not enough to convince a jury that he killed Bobby Ryan, a defence barrister has told the love rival murder trial at the Central Criminal Court.

Bernard Condon SC also criticised the garda investigation and told the jury they had been given substandard evidence due to failures in the investigation.

Mr Condon completed his eight-hour speech to the jury of six men and six women today by asking them to acquit his client. The jury will return next Tuesday to hear the judge’s charge ….read more

(Pictured: Witness Ms Mary Lowry. Credit: Collins)

Mary Lowry’s evidence against Patrick Quirke was, “a piece of the most devious poison that has been delivered across the face of the Central Criminal Court for many a year,” defence lawyers have told the jury in the love rival murder trial.

On day two of the defence closing speech, Bernard Condon SC said Ms Lowry was manipulative, told lies and put a spin on her evidence as he detailed what he told the six men and six women is evidence of her attempts to “rewrite history”.

Mr Quirke (50), of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, has ….read more

(Pictures: Accused Mr Patrick Quirke. Credit: Collins)

Bobby Ryan’s death was “callous, calculated, controlled murder” and the only verdict available is to find Patrick Quirke guilty of murder, lawyers for the State have told the Central Criminal Court.

The defence says the prosecution evidence is thin and warned the jury of the dangers of accepting the evidence of Mary Lowry.

Mr Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight. Mr Ryan went missing on June 3, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry’s home at about 6.30am. His ….read more

A judge has ordered that a consultant psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist prepare reports on a 16-year-old boy, who tried to murder a woman he had met online.

The young woman previously gave evidence of taking what she thought was her last breath, as the teenager tried to ‘choke the life’ out of her before slashing her neck with a knife and leaving her for dead.

Stephanie Ng told the Central Criminal Court that she later felt that the then 15-year-old was frustrated with himself for not having killed her.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was back before the ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Patrick Quirke. Credit: Collins)

The prosecution case against farmer Patrick Quirke, who denies murdering his love rival Bobby ‘Mr Moonlight’ Ryan, is “forensically barren” but calls on the support of the jury’s common sense, lawyers for the State have said.

Michael Bowman SC told the jury of six men and six women that while Mr Quirke retains the presumption of innocence, when they look at the evidence they will be compelled to find him guilty of murder.

Mr Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ known as Mr ….read more

(Pictured: Laura Kenna. Credit: Collins)

A 36-year-old woman has been jailed for 10 years for attempting to murder a civil servant walking home from work in Dublin two years ago. The judge praised the victim, describing her as brave and ‘lucky that she is still with us’.

Laura Kenna, of no fixed abode, was found guilty by a jury last month of attempting to murder Fionnuala Burke on Lower Drumcondra Road in the capital on January 3, 2017, and of assault causing serious harm to her on the same occasion.

Kenna had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to both counts, ….read more

A woman secretly recorded a family meeting at which she confronted her brother about raping her when they were children, a court has heard.

Excerpts of this audio recording on the woman’s phone were played to a Central Criminal Court jury during the 43-year-old man’s trial last month.

In the recording, he expressed apologies to his sister but did not make admissions.

The Donegal man, who cannot be named to protect the woman’s anonymity, had pleaded not guilty to four charges of anal rape, one of oral rape and one of sexual assault at the family home in the north west between May ….read more