Court of Criminal Appeal rejects Nevin application

The Court of Criminal Appeal has rejected an application by Catherine Nevin against her conviction for the murder of her husband and three separate counts of soliciting to have him killed.

It ruled that Nevin had received "anexceptionally fair trial in very difficult circumstances", adding that trial was "impeccably conducted" by Ms JusticeCarroll.

Nevin (52) was convicted in April 2000, after a 42-day trial, of the murder of her husband Tom at Jack White's Inn, Brittas Bay, on March 19th 1996. Mr Nevin was shot dead.

Nevin was also found guilty on three counts of soliciting three different men to kill her husband in 1989 and 1990, six years before his murder. She is serving a life sentence on the murder charge and seven years on the soliciting charges.

The appeal was heard over four days last month by Mr Justice Geoghegan, presiding, Mr Justice Quirke and Mr Justice Peart.

Mr Patrick MacEntee, SC for Nevin, had lodged the appeal on nineteen grounds. The three principal arguments were that the original trial should not have proceeded due to the amount of adverse publicity before it began; that separate trials on the murder and soliciting charges should have been held; and that the summing up to the jury by Ms Justice Mella Carroll was heavily weighted in favour of the prosecution.

But in a 60-page judgment delivered this morning, the Court of Criminal Appeal said there was no evidence to suggest any jurors in Nevin's trial were influenced by the media coverage of Mr Nevin's death.

They also rejected claims by Mr MacEntee that his client had been the victim of a Garda conspiracy and his calls for the verdict to be overturned over a refusal by the trial judge to allow a separate inquiry into alleged leaks to the media and her refusal to compel journalists to reveal their sources.

With reference to holding separate trials on the different charges, the ruling noted Mr MacEntee had argued there was "no nexus" between the soliciting of men to murder Mr Nevin and his subsequent death six years later. He had argued the evidence of the murder would have a prejudicial effect upon the solicitation charges.

However, this argument was rejected, with the court ruling the four charges "exhibited such similar features as to establish prima faciethat they could be tried together in the interests of justice and convenience".

On the question of the summing up of Ms Justice Carroll, the three-judge court rejected the appeal, ruling that she had "more than adequately" explained the case to the jury. Her directions "were most appropriate", they said, dismissing Mr MacEntee's claim that Ms Justice Carroll had failed to repeat his arguments fully to the jurors.

"Overall, the court considers that the applicant received an exceptionally fair trial in very difficult circumstances," the ruling concluded. "The trial was impeccably conducted by the trial judge and the court considers that all her rulings and discretion were correct".

Mary Carolan adds:Now that Nevin has lost her appeal, separate proceedings relating to the distribution of her late husband's estate are clear to proceed before the High Court.

That court will decide on her entitlement to any proceeds from the sale of Mr Nevin's estate. Jack White's Inn, which was jointly owned by the couple, was sold by Catherine Nevin in November 1997 for £620,000 (€787,000).

Mr Nevin's mother, Ms Nora Nevin, of Tynagh, Loughrea, Co Galway, brought proceedings in 1998 claiming to have an interest in the premises and also seeking a number of declarations, including one that Catherine Nevin was not entitled to any share in the pub. Ms Nora Nevin died after the proceedings were initiated.

Mr Nevin's family have a caveat on the estate which essentially freezes the distribution of it pending the outcome of the High Court proceedings.