THE chief prosecution witness at the trial of five men convicted of the sectarian murder of Ms Ann Marie Smith was accused in court yesterday of being an "accomplished and practised liar".
Mr Charles Adair QC, defending, told the Appeal Court in Belfast that Ms Cheryl Kelly (21), was a hopelessly flawed witness.
He said: "She was a person hallmarked by dishonesty, skilled in deceiving others and with a cunning inclination and capacity to extricate herself from trouble."
Mr Adair was speaking on the opening day of the appeal by Samuel Cooke (31), of Cregagh Street; Stephen Manners (35), of Woodstock House; David Magee (28), of Pearl Street; Philip Murray (32), of Kingswood Street, all Belfast; and Graham Bingham (25), of Carmeen Drive, Rathcoole, Co Antrim.
They were convicted in December 1994 of murdering Ms Smith (26), a mother of two from Armagh.
Cooke, Bingham and Manners were ordered to serve at least 25 years, and Magee and Murray 20 years.
Ms Smith, who lived at Drumsill Park, Armagh, was visiting Hillfoot Glentoran Supporters' Club in east Belfast in February 1992, when it was discovered she was a Catholic. She was lured to Cooke's home on the pretext of a party and was strangled in an upstairs bedroom. Her body was taken to waste ground nearby and her throat cut.
Ms Kelly had been in the house on the night of the murder and her decision to come forward was praised by the trial judge, Mr Justice Higgins, who said he had found her evidence truthful, reliable and convincing.
But Mr Adair told the three appeal judges the trial judge was wrong in his finding that Ms Kelly was a credible witness.
Mr Adair, who is appearing for Bingham, said she had told ties during the trial and the judge failed to recognise her capacity to deceive and fool everyone with whom she came in contact.
He said Ms Kelly had been involved in drink and drugs and had "cleaned out" her mother's building society account of £800.
"She would do anything to escape the consequences of her actions, criminal or otherwise," Mr Adair said.
"The frightening thing about her evidence, and attempting to rely on it, is her capacity to invent imaginary happenings with total ease.
"There was always a motive for the invention and invariably that was self preservation."
Mr Adair said that without Ms Kelly's evidence there was no sustainable case against Bingham. There were no admissions, forensic or other evidence to link him to the murder.
He added: "It is our submission that the trial judge, while recognising the witness as a person with a criminal past, was unjustifiably influenced by her protestations of moral outrage, and selected from her evidence passages to rehabilitate her as a moral and concerned citizen."
The appeal, which is being heard by the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Brian Hutton, Lord Justice MacDermott and Mr Justice Campbell is expected to last at least two weeks.