Roy Webster murder trial hears he acted normally after killing

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

Roy Webster (40), of Ashbree, Ashford, Co Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Anne Shortall (47). The State did not accept the manslaughter plea. The charge concerns her death on 3 April 2015 at The Murrough, Co Wicklow. The proceedings were reported on 16 March 2017.

At the Central Criminal Court hearing on 16 March 2017, prosecuting counsel Paul Greene SC read a statement from Carmel Phibbs, a friend of Mr Webster’s wife. She said Mr Webster was acting “completely normal” when he arrived home on the evening of 3 April 2015. He showed his wife a small cut on his arm, which he said he had received while doing a tiling job.

The report said the court had previously heard that Mr Webster beat Ms Shortall to death with a hammer and left her taped-up body in his van. The attack followed her request for abortion money and a threat to tell his wife about their sexual encounter four months earlier. Pathology reports showed she was not pregnant.

The report said gardaí found Ms Shortall’s body the following Tuesday after Mr Webster broke down in front of his wife and revealed that it was in his workshop.

Lead investigator Det Sgt Fergus O’Brien agreed with defending counsel Brendan Grehan SC that, after his admission, Mr Webster co-operated with gardaí and tried his best to help them. He also agreed that Mr Webster had been of “impeccable character” and that the events had taken a “huge toll” on him and his family.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy told the jury that the prosecution’s evidence would end on Monday.