Dundalk man Dermot McArdle has lost his bid to have his conviction for the manslaughter of his wife overturned in Spain.
Three judges at the High Court in Granada roday upheld the original conviction by a jury back in October, when McArdle (39) received a two-year sentence for killing Kelly-Ann Corcoran, who died after falling from a fourth-floor hotel balcony during a family holiday in Marbella in February 2000.
The appeal was based on a number of issues which McArdle’s legal team argued had not been considered properly by the jury, particularly the dramatic evidence given by another hotel guest, English tourist Roy Haines, whose description of a heated argument between McArdle and Ms Corcoran minutes before she fell to her death proved conclusive.
Mr Haines was initially called as a defence witness on the basis of his statements to police in 2000 that he thought McArdle had tried to save his wife by grabbing her arm as she clung on to the balcony.
However, in court he contradicted the defendant’s claim that Ms Corcoran had tripped as she ran to save their young son from climbing on to the rail.
He told the jury during the five-day trila that he had seen McArdle "hold Ms Corcoran above his head" on the balcony shortly before she fell to her death and he had shouted to McArdle to "put her down".
The testimony was singled out by the jury as one of the main reasons for its decision to convict McArdle.
McArdle's lawyer, Luis Casaubon, expressed his disappointment today that the appeal had been turned down and said an appeal to the Supreme Court was being considered.
It may take years until a new appeal is heard, during which time McArdle will not have to return to Spain to serve his sentence or pay compensation of €60,000 each to his two sons and €100,000 to his wife’s parents, Ted and Bridie Corcoran.