Jury retires in William Moran murder trial

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

The jury in the murder trial of William Moran, 20, of Connolly Place in Waterford city, retired to consider its verdict. The proceedings were reported on 16 March 2015.

William Moran has pleaded not guilty to murdering Martin Brophy, 22, at the old Waterford Institute of Technology building between 19 and 21 May 2012.

In its closing statement, the prosecution told the jury that William Moran had admitted kicking Martin Brophy ten times in the head. It said that if jurors were satisfied William Moran had assaulted Martin Brophy in the manner described by Facebook messages, he was clearly guilty of murder.

Defence counsel said that, although William Moran had not behaved appropriately, it was a leap to say those actions had led to Martin Brophy’s death. Counsel said the evidence was a long way from establishing that William Moran was guilty of murder.

The report said Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy concluded his charge to the jury that afternoon, before the jury began considering its verdict.