Courts / Dublin / Report
Jury read letter of retraction by man who previously gave gardai statement admitting to Grangegorman double murder
Summary
A jury at the Central Criminal Court has been presented with a letter of retraction written by Mark Nash, a 42-year-old man from Dublin, who previously gave gardaí a statement admitting responsibility for the 1997 murders of two women in Grangegorman. Nash has pleaded not guilty to the charges concerning the deaths of Sylvia Shields and Mary Callanan between 6 and 7 March 1997. In the retraction, read to the court by former Assistant Commissioner James McHugh, Nash attributed his knowledge of the crimes to media coverage, teletext reports, and radio accounts. He claimed he had been in mental distress when making his initial August 1997 statement at Mill Street Garda Station in Galway and asserted he had requested legal representation on three occasions during questioning. The trial, with Roscommon connections relating to an earlier assault allegation against Nash, continues.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Jury read letter of retraction by man who previously gave gardai statement admitting to Grangegorman double murder. Charges or matters: the murder of Sylvia Shields (60) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997. Procedural stage: trial
When:
- March 6 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 7, 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- August 16, 1997 Other
- September 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- September 1 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- August 16 Incident
- August 17 1997 Other
- September 8 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- September 8 Other
- 2015-02-20 Publication
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: the murder of Sylvia Shields (60) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997 (Alleged Or Contested)
Plea: Not guilty
Places mentioned
- Prussia Street
- Clonliffe Road
- Mill Street
- The way
- Central Criminal Court
- gardai in Mill Street Garda Station
- Mill Street
- Mountjoy
- Mountjoy Prison
- Beaumont Hospital
- In Mountjoy Prison
Topics
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