The murder charge against a 78- year-old Dingle man was dropped yesterday on the Isle of Man and replaced by a charge of manslaughter.At a brief hearing before High Bailiff (professional magistrate) Mr Michael Moyle, in Douglas, prosecutions advocate Ms Pam Butterworth said the committal papers had been served the previous day and the prosecution wished to amend the charge against Mr Richard Benedict (Benny) Moore.
They wished to change it to manslaughter under section 20 of the 1872 Criminal Code, she said.
Mr Moore was first charged with murder at the end of October. This followed the death of a woman, Maureen Fox, with whom he had been drinking in his hotel. Ms Fox accompanied him to his room, where she became sick. He called an ambulance, but she died on her way to hospital.
Mr Moore was arrested and charged with her murder the next morning. The case has been remanded since.
Counsel for Mr Moore, advocate Ms Louise Byrne, told the court yesterday the defence did not oppose the amendment of the charge, but that as soon as the opportunity presented itself they would oppose this new charge. They had received the committal papers on Monday, she said.
She said she would like the case put down for seven days time, so that the prosecution could establish its skeleton argument and the defence could present its skeleton argument as soon as possible. The High Bailiff remanded the case on continuing bail for a fortnight.
Mr Moyle then told the court that a serious matter had come to his attention. Reporting restrictions on the case still applied on the Isle of Man and had been observed by the local media, but he had learned that in the Republic of Ireland the media were "having a field day".
"This is causing you considerable distress and your family is finding it a terrible strain," he told Mr Moore.
He warned the media in Ireland against offending Manx law or prejudicing a fair trial.
As in Ireland, pre-trial comment on the details of a pending case is prohibited on the Isle of Man. The Irish Times is not sold on the Isle of Man.
Mr Moore has been on the island since he was charged last October. He was held in custody for almost two months, but in December he was granted bail and permitted to stay in a hostel on a number of conditions, including that he observe a curfew and sign on regularly in the local police station.
This was the first time a person charged with murder was granted bail in the Isle of Man, where there is no automatic right to bail.
Mr Moore's son, Edward, daughter-in-law, Katherine and daughter, Ms Mary Ferriter, were with him yesterday, along with a number of his friends who live on the island, where he has been a regular visitor for over 30 years.