Courts / Roscommon / Report
Forensic scientists "put to the pin of their collar" during serial killer's trial, State tells appeal
Summary
Mark Nash is appealing his 2015 conviction for the murder of two women whose bodies were discovered in sheltered accommodation in Grangegorman twenty years earlier. Nash was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court and received a mandatory life sentence. He had already been serving life imprisonment for two murders committed in Ballintober, County Roscommon in 1997. At the Court of Appeal hearing, Nash's counsel challenged the forensic evidence, particularly DNA findings on a jacket seized during the investigation. The defence contended there was a risk of contamination at the State's Forensic Science Laboratory. The Director of Public Prosecutions' counsel argued the contamination theory required "a mind boggling series of coincidences" and submitted the case against Nash was "coercive and compelling" based on his admissions, DNA evidence, and footprint matches. The three-judge court reserved judgment.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Forensic scientists "put to the pin of their collar" during serial killer's trial, State tells appeal. Charges or matters: the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- March 6 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 7, 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 20, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 1998 Hearing Or Sentence
- August 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2017-11-07 Publication
Why: Opening an appeal against his conviction for the Grangegorman murders on Monday, Nash's lead senior counsel, Hugh Hartnett SC, told the Court of Appeal that it was an "extraordinary and unusual case" because another man, the late Dean Lyons, had "confessed". CNI source report
Case subjects
Background Person
Charges: the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997 (Proven)
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; A Central Criminal Court jury found Nash unanimously guilty after deliberating for four hours following a 48-day trial and he was accordingly given the mandatory life sentence by Mr Justice Carroll Moran on April 20, 2015. A short time later, while Nash was in detention on foot of the Roscommon double killing, he admitted to having carried out the Grangegorman murders five months earlier.
Places mentioned
- Court of Appeal
- Central Criminal Court
- High Court
- Prussia Street
- Clonliffe Road
Topics
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