Jury resumes deliberations in Finnegan murder trial

Vesel Jahiri (33), of Louth Village, Dundalk

The jury in the trial of a 33-year-old man accused of murdering his ex-partner has resumed deliberating on a verdict having been sent home for a second night last night.

Vesel Jahiri from Louth Village, Dundalk denies murdering 25-year-old Anna Finnegan at Allendale Glen, Clonsilla in Dublin on 21 September 2012.

Mr Jahiri has also pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm on Ms Finnegan’s brother, Karl, on the same date.

The trial at the Central Criminal Court heard how Ms Finnegan and Mr Jahiri had been in a ten-year relationship which had “deteriorated dramatically” amid a dispute over access to their two young children.

It is alleged that on 21 September 2012 Mr Jahiri forced his way into her home through the front door.

There was an altercation with her brother Karl who was stabbed in the chest and head.

Ms Finnegan fled in distress but collapsed on the roadside, she had received a single stab wound.

Mr Jahiri took her to hospital and dropped her at the entrance to the emergency department.

He later presented himself to gardaí but he denied stabbing Ms Finnegan.

He said Karl Finnegan had two knives and he had grabbed one of them to use on Mr Finnegan in self defence.

Mr Finnegan said Mr Jahiri had arrived at the house with a knife and attacked him before chasing after his sister.

In closing arguments, the prosecution said the physical evidence of his frame of mind on the day was “utterly overwhelming” because he had smashed his way through a front door.

Prosecuting Counsel Patrick Marrinan said this was compelling evidence on which he could be convicted of murder.

However, the defence said the medical evidence suggested the jury could not exclude the possibility that Ms Finnegan was stabbed when she got between two people fighting with knives.

Senior Counsel Brendan Grehan said the jury should first consider the manner in which she may have received the single stab wound.

“It only becomes murder if the person intended to kill or cause serious injury,” he said.

The trial has continued for the past number of days in Mr Jahiri’s absence.

The jury was told this should not affect its deliberations and they should not draw any inference from his absence.

Dundalk woman names rapist nephew

The Central Criminal Court

A 75-year-old local woman whose nephew was jailed for 14 years earlier this week for violently raping her has waived her right to anonymity to have him named.

Christopher Ward (aged 51) was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury last month of the rape and sexual assault of his aunt, Kathleen Ward, at her Dundalk home on March 13, 2011 following an eight-day trial.

Mrs Ward, a widow, has indicated since the sentence was imposed yesterday that she wishes to waive her right to anonymity.

Mr Ward, who has a previous address in Birmingham, England, was unlawfully at large from Hatfield Prison in the UK at the time of the rape.

He was serving an 11-year sentence for robbery and wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm. He had failed to return from day release in January 2011.

Ward has 92 previous convictions for offences in the UK, where he grew up, including burglary, false imprisonment, road traffic offences, escape from lawful custody and assault.

He has one previous conviction for sex with a minor committed when he was a teenager.

Ward raped his aunt on her bed after tearing off the elderly woman’s clothes during a four-hour ordeal which began when she let him in for a cup of tea. She sustained substantial injuries and had difficulty walking for some time.

Mr Justice George Birmingham said the woman had understandably felt she was safe letting her nephew in for a cup of tea. “Sadly she could not have been more wrong,” he said.

He noted Ward has not expressed any “regret, apology or remorse” for the offence.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the aggravating factors include the vulnerability of the victim, the disparity in physical strength, the injuries sustained by the woman and the effect the offence had on her. He imposed a 14 year sentence for the rape and a concurrent three and a half years for the sexual assault.

In her victim impact statement, Mrs Ward outlined how she no longer trusts men and felt so ashamed by what had happened that she wanted to die.

She said her world turned upside down when Ward raped her and she no longer feels safe in her own home. She said feels she will never get over it and has no quality of life.

She said the only thing Ward never took from her was her belief in God.

Ward returned to the UK following the rape where he was arrested in June 2011 and returned to prison to complete his sentence.

He was interviewed in prison by gardaí and claimed there had been “a moment of moral weakness” between him and his aunt and the sex was consensual.

Ward was extradited to Ireland on completion of his sentence in 2012 and has been in custody in Ireland since.

Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, said the view of the Director of Public Prosecutions was that the offences were on the higher end of the scale.

Eoin Lawlor BL, defending, said the accused man is single with no children and no drug addictions. He has been in custody on this offence for two years.

Detective Inspector Patrick Marry told Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, that Mrs Ward had met her nephew on one previous occasion when he called to her house about one week prior to the rape and they had a cup of tea. She had said it was a normal innocuous visit.

On the morning of March 13, 2011 the woman had risen and dressed at 7am when she heard her doorbell ringing. She saw it was her nephew and invited him in for a cup of tea.

As she made a cup of tea in the kitchen Ward came up behind her and put his hand over her mouth and a knife to her throat. He threatened her and dragged her into the sitting room where he pulled off her bottom clothes as she struggled.

Still holding the knife he brought her to the bedroom where he tore off her top and cardigan before raping her on the bed.

Before he left four hours later at 10.45am he threatened her, warning her not to say anything.

The woman phoned relatives who persuaded her to contact gardaí. She had already taken a shower because she felt dirty.

Det Insp Marry said Ward had been given day release in January 2011 from a sentence he was serving but he failed to return to prison and was deemed to have absconded.

McShane accused Viramontes will not be taking the stand in his defence

Natasha McShane before the attack

Heriberto Viramontes, the man on trial in Chicago at present charged with the attempted murder of Silverbridge girl Natasha McShane, will not be taking the stand in his own defence.

Natasha, whose mum Sheila is a member of the Stewart family from Cox’s Demesne, has been left with extensive brain injuries and speech problems as a result of a baseball bat attack as she was walking home from a night out with a friend in Chicago in April 2010.

Viramontes is on trial at presented charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and armed robbery in connection with the assault on Natasha and her friend Stacey Jurich.

Jurors were told yesterday, however, that the 34-year-old would not be testifying.

Already jurors have been played jailhouse recordings of Viramontes, in which he admitted he attacked the women. In one recording of his phonecalls from Cook County Jail, he could be heard saying: “My intention was not to kill them, my intention was to get money to get high.”

The defence team claims the evidence linking Viramontes to the crime is circumstantial and have attempted to cast doubt on the testimony of key witness Marcy Cruz, who was with him on the night in question.

The jury is expected to begin deliberating later today, after hearing closing arguments.

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