A Co Wicklow electrician was freed on bail by the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday after it overturned his conviction for the murder of his father. The three-judge court ordered that Mr Thomas Heaney should get a retrial.
Mr Heaney (28) was jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court after he was convicted in November 1996 of the murder of his father, Mr Peter Heaney (59), at Marian Villas, Arklow on October 9th 1994.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Budd, and a jury heard Mr Peter Heaney died from shock and haemorrhage due to a stab wound in the chest. Yesterday, Mr Patrick Gageby SC, for Mr Thomas Heaney, argued that the trial judge had erred in failing to direct the jury regarding what was the proper law to be applied when considering the defence of provocation. Mr Justice Barrington said the point raised by Mr Gageby was correct. Pending a new trial, Mr Heaney was allowed out on bail on his own surety of £500 and an independent surety of £10,000. He is to live with an aunt at St John's Villas, Arklow and report once a week to the local garda station.