A Co Mayo jury yesterday took two hours and 10 minutes to bring in a verdict of manslaughter against Pádraig Nally (61), a farmer charged with the murder of John Ward, a Traveller and father of 11. Nally was remanded on bail by Mr Justice Paul Carney for sentencing on November 11th. Kathy Sheridan reports from Castlebar.
The option of acquittal was not open to the jury of seven women and five men, following the direction of Mr Justice Carney on Tuesday that "the amount of force [used to kill John Ward] cannot be objectively justified".
Friends and neighbours of the defendant had already expressed shock that a not guilty verdict had been ruled out. In the courtroom, with up to a dozen uniformed gardaí and a number of plain-clothes detectives in attendance, the verdict was met with virtual silence.
Nally remained impassive before being escorted out a side door by four gardaí.
Marie Ward, the widow of the victim, slowly shook her head. She sat, as usual, on a bench near the door, with some of her 11 children aged from 22 down to four, including Tom, her 18-year-old son who was driving his father on the day he was killed.
Her late husband was also represented by several brothers, their wives, two cousins and some of what one brother, Paddy Ward, estimated could be 150 nephews and nieces.
As Nally left the nearby Garda station, driving his white Astra van in the company of his sister, an unrelated Traveller youth in handcuffs was being escorted by gardaí along the street, pursued by his family.
In the courthouse lobby, a tearful Ms Ward was trying to articulate her reaction for a small group of journalists.
A brother-in-law intervened and told her to say the family felt they had not got justice, were very unhappy the trial had been held in Mayo and would be appealing the case to the High Court.
"He [Nally] should be doing a life for a life," said Ms Ward. "He has someone to go back to, but me and my kids have no one. My kids are roaring out for their father . . . "
"Would a Traveller get away with manslaughter if he killed a farmer like that?" asked Paddy Ward, as Marie Ward and her children set off on the return journey to their halting site in Carrowbrowne, near Galway city.