A man and woman who were jailed for life in February last year for the murder of the woman's former partner in a Dublin flat in May 2000 yesterday had their appeals against conviction rejected by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Jacqueline Noble (39), Knowth Court, Ballymun, and Paul Hopkins (25), Sillogue Road, Ballymun, were convicted of murdering Derek Benson (33), at his flat at Sandyhill Avenue, Ballymun, on May 12th, 2000.
During the 30-day Central Criminal Court trial last year the jury heard evidence of extreme physical, sexual and emotional abuse by the deceased against Noble over a 14-year period.
However, trial judge Mr Justice Henry Abbott refused to allow the jury to consider the defence of provocation. The State's case was that Noble hired Hopkins to kill Mr Benson, that Hopkins had bought a sword and some sleeping tablets in advance and had given the tablets and his mobile phone number to Noble so that she could call him when the coast was clear.
The State prosecutors alleged that on May 12th, 2000, Mr Benson had himself taken drugs to numb the pain of a dental procedure and cannabis and had also been fed some of the sleeping tablets by Noble.
It was alleged Hopkins arrived at the flat with the sword in a bag and was let in by Noble, that the deceased was lying in bed drugged and that Hopkins killed Mr Benson with the sword, inflicting multiple stab wounds.
The Central Criminal Court heard allegations that Noble's young daughter had been sexually abused by Mr Benson, the father of the child. The jury also heard medical evidence that Noble had been treated in hospital for injuries consistent with beating, including fractured ribs and extensive bruising.
Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan, who sat with Mr Justice Barry White and Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, said Hopkins's main ground of appeal was that there had been provocation in that certain words were alleged to have been spoken by the deceased to Hopkins and were taken as relating to a child. However, this had all been in the course of what appeared to have been a planned escapade.
Mr Justice Geoghegan said that there could not be a defence of provocation in Noble's case because there was no sudden or immediate loss of control.