Eleanor Joel and Jonathan Costen convictions for unlawful killing quashed

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal quashed Eleanor Joel and Jonathan Costen’s convictions for the unlawful killing by neglect of Evelyn Joel. The proceedings were reported on 4 March 2016.

The pair were charged with manslaughter over the death of Eleanor Joel’s mother, Evelyn Joel, in Co Wexford in January 2006. They had pleaded not guilty to unlawful killing by neglect.

Following a retrial, a jury at Wexford Circuit Criminal Court found them guilty. In March 2013, Judge Seán O’Donnabháin imposed two-year suspended sentences on condition they carry out 230 hours of community service.

Mr Justice George Birmingham delivered the appeal judgment, sitting with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice Alan Mahon. The court found that potentially significant healthcare witnesses should have been called to give evidence or face cross-examination. It also held that extensive publicity meant the retrial should have been transferred from Wexford to Dublin.

Eleanor Joel also succeeded over the replacement of a juror without her legal advisers present. A ground concerning the causation test succeeded, while Jonathan Costen succeeded on a ground concerning the trial judge’s directions on his duty of care.

The pair contended that healthcare professionals and local authority officials were responsible for any alleged negligence and that no private individual had the resources to investigate others’ negligence. However, the court was not persuaded that the nature of the garda investigation made a fair trial impossible.

Justin Dillon SC, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the court that his client wished to consider the judgment carefully and consider whether to seek a retrial.