Laide manslaughter trial 'abandoned'
The Director of Public Prosecutions is not expected to proceed today with the retrial of Dermot Laide for the manslaughter of a student outside a Dublin nightclub.
Laide, 24, was the only one of four former pupils of exclusive Blackrock College who was convicted of killing Brian Murphy, 18, outside Club Annabel at the Burlington Hotel in August 2000.
The Court of Criminal Appeal found in February 2005 that Laide’s manslaughter conviction in the high-profile case was unsafe and should be set aside, but it ordered a retrial.
The 36-day trial in early 2004 drew unprecedented media publicity.
Minister for Justice and barrister Michael McDowell yesterday called for reform of the criminal justice system so prosecutions do not hinge on the availability of individual witnesses.
Mr McDowell refused to comment on individual cases and stressed that the DPP was completely independent of the Government.
But he added: “I as Minister for Justice have no hand, act or part in decisions that are made in respect of individual prosecutions.
“It has been suggested that the reason that this decision has been made is that one particular witness is unwell and that his evidence was central to the prosecution.”
Speaking on general terms, Mr McDowell added that it concerned him that the criminal justice system did not have a well-worked process of deposition whereby written evidence can be submitted and accepted in prosecution cases.
“If somebody carries out a vital function such as an autopsy, the fact that such a person would or would not fall under a bus, should not determine if a trial never takes place in the future,” he explained.
The defence’s right to cross examine a witness should be balanced out by the public’s right for justice, he added.
The retrial of Laide, of Co Monaghan, for the manslaughter of Mr Murphy, was due to proceed in the Central Criminal Court today.
However the DPP is now expected to inform the court that it is not proceeding with the prosecution.
It is believed that Mr Murphy’s family was informed by gardaí of the DPP’s decision this weekend.
Laide was jailed for four years for manslaughter in 2004. He also received a two-year concurrent sentence for violent disorder.
Laide’s fellow Blackrock College colleague Sean Mackey served a two-year jail term for violent disorder.
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