A 21-YEAR-OLD woman and a 19-year-old man have been cleared of the murder of a man at a Christmas party in Drogheda.
The State’s case against the two collapsed when the trial judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict them.
The court had heard evidence that the 29-year-old victim had been kicked in the head and chest over a two-hour period.
Following a three-week trial at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy ruled that Louise Wall (21) and Michael Cruise (19) could not be convicted of murder as “the court could only take the view that the accused did not cause the death” of Darren McKeown in December 2007.
He instructed the jury to record a verdict of not guilty by direction before discharging it.
Wall and Cruise were then rearraigned and pleaded guilty to violent disorder. They were remanded in custody to be sentenced on July 27th.
The victim’s family broke down as the decision was given, and his brother, Barry McKeown, would only say that he and his family were “devastated”.
Wall, of Cranmore, Clogherhead, Co Louth and Cruise, of Donore Avenue, Ballsgrove, Drogheda, denied the murder at a Christmas Day party in the Rowan Heights estate. They also pleaded not guilty to a second count of violent disorder. It had been the prosecution’s case that the two were part of a joint enterprise.
Seán Gillane, prosecuting, told the court the victim was subjected to a “sustained, prolonged and vicious” attack during which he was kicked in the head and chest over a two-hour period.
However, under cross-examination by counsel for the defence, Brendan Grehan, the Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis, said the most likely cause of death was Mr McKeown’s head hitting off the ground, after either of two falls.
In the absence of the jury, Mr Grehan said a murder case could not go before them on the basis of this evidence. “Dr Curtis said the cause of death was not tied to actions of Louise Wall, but to actions of another person.
“Effectively, the jury is being invited to convict Louise Wall and Michael Cruise of murder, when the evidence is to the effect that whatever actions they carried out, the mechanism of death is the fall,” Mr Grehan said.
Mr Justice McCarthy explained to the jury that on the evidence of Dr Curtis, Mr McKeown “falling backwards and hitting his head is far more likely the cause of death. This was not caused or done by either of the accused . . . so they cannot be convicted of murder.”