Keith Johnston pleads not guilty to impeding prosecution

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

Keith Johnston pleaded not guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Kieran Greene, knowing or believing him to have committed the murder of Patricia O'Connor. The proceedings were reported on 30 January 2020.

The prosecution alleged that Johnston assisted Greene in buying DIY items while O'Connor was dead in a shallow grave in Wexford but had not yet been dismembered. It also alleged that Johnston redecorated a bathroom to destroy or conceal evidence. Johnston denied that the purchases on 9 June 2017 were intended to conceal her remains and denied refurbishing the bathroom between 31 May and 9 June 2017 to conceal or destroy evidence.

The jury heard that gardaí viewed footage of two men they believed to be Greene and Johnston buying items including rubbish sacks and saws. Johnston said he and Greene had bought axes for the fire and that he had bought two saws because Greene had damaged his saw. He said the shopping was to replace lost or damaged tools from fishing and that he had not identified himself in the shop footage.

On 30 January 2020, the jury was listening to the final interviews Johnston gave to gardaí on 26 and 27 September 2017. He denied being at the shallow grave in Wexford or assisting Greene afterwards. The Central Criminal Court trial continued before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury.