A statement of confession allegedly made by a Co Galway man convicted of the murder of an elderly woman over 25 years ago was the work of more than one person, it was claimed in the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday.
Dr Michael George Far-ringdon, a scientist who analysed statements made by Michael Joseph Kelly to gardaí, made the claim while giving evidence in an appeal by Kelly against his conviction in March 1983 for the murder of 87-year-old Margaret Glynn.
Kelly (54), of Castleblakeny, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, has always denied the murder of Mrs Glynn at her home at Keeves, Ballinkore Bridge, Co Galway, on the night of November 14th-15th, 1981, and claims he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
In 1981, the bodies of Mrs Glynn and her brother, Martin, were removed from the house by firefighters after a fire.
Martin was found to have died of natural causes but it was alleged Mrs Glynn died of asphyxia due to manual strangulation.
At his trial, it was alleged Kelly, who was working for the Glynns at the time, had strangled Mrs Glynn and then set fire to her bed. Kelly was convicted of her murder and given a life sentence, but was released on licence over a decade ago.
As part of his appeal, Kelly has claimed that scientific evidence casts grave doubts over a statement of confession allegedly made by him in which he admitted putting a blanket over Mrs Glynn's face and strangling her.
The statement was allegedly made to Det Sgt Joseph Shelly and Sgt Patrick Lynagh in Ballinasloe Garda station following Kelly's arrest in November 1981.
In evidence yesterday, Dr Farringdon said that, by using a method to analyse authorship known as the QSUM method, he was able to deduce that the statement allegedly made by Kelly was the work of more than one person.
Dr Farringdon told counsel for Kelly, Anthony Sammon SC, that, as part of his analysis, he had used the transcript of what Kelly had said during his trial in 1983 and compared the language used to that contained in the statement Kelly was said to have made to gardaí.
His conclusion was that the confession was the work of more than one person, the witness said.
Cross-examined by counsel for the DPP, Tom O'Connell SC, Dr Farringdon rejected claims that the method used to arrive at his deductions was not accepted by the wider scientific community.
While agreeing the QSUM method was not widely used and that he had no knowledge of it being used in court cases in North America, he said his services had been requested by a number of agencies and bodies in the UK and the US.
Researchers from Switzerland had recently discovered that QSUM analysis could be applied to French as well as English, he said.
Earlier yesterday, the Northern Ireland State Pathologist, Prof Jack Crane, who had studied the original report on the postmortem on Margaret Glynn carried out by former State pathologist John Harbison, said that while he agreed with most of what was in the autopsy, he did not agree with Prof Harbison's conclusion that Mrs Glynn had died as a result of manual strangulation.
Dr Crane told Mr O'Connell he did agree with Prof Harbison that there was nothing to indicate that Mrs Glynn died of natural causes. The levels of carbon monoxide found in Mrs Glynn's system indicated that she was not breathing when the fire started, he said.
The appeal continues.