Second jury fails to reach verdict in Gary Walsh murder trial

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

A second jury failed to reach a verdict in Gary Walsh’s murder trial at the Central Criminal Court on 3 May 2017. Mr Justice Michael Moriarty declared a disagreement after the jury reported that it could reach neither a unanimous nor a majority decision. The jurors had deliberated for five hours over two days.

Gary Walsh had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The proceedings were reported on 4 May 2017. The case concerned the death of Cathal Sweeney following an assault at Ashdale Gardens, Terenure, Dublin.

The report said Gary Walsh punched Cathal Sweeney while they watched rugby in a mutual friend’s flat, believing he had committed a sexual assault which he denied. Colm Campbell had told Gary Walsh about the allegation. The court heard that the complainant had not pursued it with the authorities and had been friendly with Cathal Sweeney at the time of his death.

The pathologist attributed the death to blunt force trauma to the head and face with profuse haemorrhage, against a background of coronary artery atheroma, an enlarged heart and warfarin therapy. He accepted that the six or seven punches Gary Walsh admitted could account for all the injuries.

The State said specific intent was the issue: blows intended to cause serious injury, resulting in death, warranted a murder conviction. The defence said Gary Walsh could not have known about Cathal Sweeney’s warfarin use or serious liver problem contributing to profuse bleeding into his airways. It sought a verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

The report said the judge put the case in for mention again “on Monday”.