Man ‘beat woman to death’ after threat to reveal sex encounter

A married man beat a woman to death after she threatened to reveal all about a sexual encounter she had with him, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Roy Webster (40), from Ashbree, Ashford, Co Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Anne Shortall (47) on April 3rd, 2015 at The Murrough, Co Wicklow. His plea was not accepted by the State.

Opening the trial on Wednesday, Paul Greene SC said the prosecution’s case was that Mr Webster and the deceased had a “sexual encounter” after meeting at a pub on December 20th, 2014.

Mr Greene said that seemed to be the end of it until some time later Ms Shortall started trying to contact the accused by phone and through a mutual friend on Facebook.

When she made contacted Mr Webster, Ms Shortall she told him she was pregnant and wanted money for an abortion. He was married at the time and his second child had recently been born. He asked Ms Shortall for proof that she was pregnant, and that he was responsible.

Mr Greene said Ms Shortall was in debt, owing a couple of thousand euro to her landlord and a similar amount in electricity bills.

On April 3rd, 2015, Mr Greene said Mr Webster and Ms Shortall met in Wicklow town and were seen sitting in his van. He said the jury would hear there was a dispute about whether he would give her money and she threatened to “reveal all” about their earlier encounter.

Hammer

He hit her on the head with a hammer and drove her back to his work premises with her hands secured by duct tape. A pathologist’s report would show that she received nine blows to the head, he said.

Ms Shortall’s body remained at Mr Webster’s workshop until April 7th, 2015 when he told gardaí of her whereabouts. He was interviewed by gardaí on April 6th but did not reveal his part in her death. By the following day gardaí had become suspicious and spoke to him again. It was at that point he revealed the location of her body, which was discovered behind wood panels in his workshop.

Mr Webster’s barrister Brendan Grehan SC told the jury that his client accepted that he met Ms Shortall by arrangement and that he assaulted her and is responsible for her death. He also admits tying her hands with tape and lying to gardaí in his initial statement.

Mr Greene said the prosecution intended to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Webster was guilty of murder.

Witness Jamie Shortt told Mr Greene that he was out with the accused and some other men on December 20th, 2015. They went for a couple of pints in one pub at a pub before moving on to another. He recalled seeing Mr Webster speaking to a woman for much of the night in the busy pub.

A few days later he said he saw Mr Webster again and they spoke about that night. He said Mr Webster told him he had gone to a house party, slept on a couch and went home the next day.

Speaking to defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC, Mr Shortt said that Mr Webster always “came across as okay” and agreed that he had previously described him as “100 per cent genuine”.

The trial continues.