Jury begins deliberations in William Moran murder trial

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

Jurors have begun considering their verdict in the Waterford murder trial of William Moran. The proceedings were reported on 16 March 2015.

William Moran has pleaded not guilty to murdering Martin Brophy. William Moran, 20, is from Connolly Place in Waterford city. Martin Brophy was 22. The charge relates to an alleged killing between 19 and 21 May 2012 at the old Waterford Institute of Technology building.

In its final address, the prosecution said William Moran had admitted delivering ten kicks to Martin Brophy’s head. It argued that jurors should find him guilty of murder if they accepted that he carried out the assault as described in Facebook messages.

Defence counsel accepted that William Moran’s behaviour had been inappropriate. Counsel disputed the suggested connection between those actions and Martin Brophy’s death, arguing that drawing that conclusion required a leap. The defence also maintained that the evidence fell well short of establishing guilt on the murder charge.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy finished giving his directions to the jury that afternoon. The jurors then began their deliberations.