The High Court refused bail to Sean Carlyle, who is charged with murdering Vincent Parsons in Tallaght. The decision, delivered on 19 November 2019, was made before trial and determined only whether Carlyle should be released on bail; it did not decide his guilt.
The court relied on the seriousness of the murder charge, the strength of the evidence described at the hearing and the prospect of a life sentence if Carlyle were convicted. It also considered a previous failure to answer bail. The judge concluded that Carlyle was unlikely to attend his trial.
The prosecution evidence included CCTV showing Parsons leaving Killinarden House pub, followed shortly afterwards by Carlyle and a co-accused. Both were seen getting into a black van bearing a Flowers.ie logo, which CCTV later showed travelling towards the area where Parsons was found seriously injured and returning towards Carlyle’s house. A watch belonging to Parsons was found in the van, which belonged to Carlyle’s father.
Police also said forensic testing found Parsons’s DNA on a bloodstain on Carlyle’s shorts, and Carlyle’s DNA on bloodstains on a T-shirt seized from his home. Carlyle said a cut to his hand had happened while boxing. The Gardaí alleged that he and the co-accused assaulted Parsons. These were matters presented at the bail hearing, not findings after a trial.
The judge admitted and gave some weight to evidence from Detective Garda Harrison that a person in Carlyle’s peer group had said Carlyle would abscond or fail to attend trial. The source’s name was withheld because, the prosecution said, identifying the person would put their life in danger. The judge relied on legal authorities concerning the limited admission of hearsay evidence in bail proceedings.
Carlyle’s solicitor and family offered evidence that he would attend trial, and a €15,000 surety was proposed. His counsel argued that Carlyle’s short trip to Belfast after his release did not show an intention to flee and that the Garda evidence about the anonymous source should carry no weight. The court rejected Carlyle’s account that he had not contacted his solicitor from Belfast and found his mother had been in contact with him after Gardaí visited the family home.
The court also refused bail under section 2 of the Bail Act 1997, finding refusal reasonably necessary to prevent a serious offence. It cited Carlyle’s prior serious conviction arising from a 2013 incident, for which he received a three-year sentence in 2016 with one year suspended, along with the seriousness of the present charge and the evidence before it.