Murder accused 'went on holiday after beating pensioner to death'

He has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to her manslaughter on a date between January 19 and 21, 2009, after falsely imprisoning her. He also admits stealing €3,000 from her bank account over five days.

John O’Kelly SC, prosecuting, told the jury that Mrs Corcoran’s husband died in 2007 and she was living alone on her farm, which was mostly let out. She was active, had friends and two dogs, and was enjoying life.

“Sometime between January 19 and 21, she was murdered,” he said.

“She didn’t know, but Oliver Hayes was watching her house with the intention of robbing her. He decided she’d probably have money, hopefully in the house,” said Mr O’Kelly. “He brought a couple of feet of yellow rope.”

Mr O’Kelly said that as Mrs Corcoran opened her front door to enter, Hayes was ‘ready for her’, grabbed her from behind and pushed her inside. She was small but had courage, he said, and tried to fight him off.

Hayes demanded money and was told it was in the bank. He asked her for her bank cards, but she resisted, he said.

“He brought her to her car, put her in the boot and drove her around with the intention that this would break her down,” he explained. “But she was courageous and would not take it lying down, and managed to get into the back seat of the car.”

She would not reveal her pin number so he tied her legs with a dog lead and continued to drive around. After about an hour in the car, he brought her to his house and dragged her upstairs to a bedroom.

“He starts on her again to give him the numbers because he wants to clean out her account,” said Mr O’Kelly. She gave him her pin numbers but he then began beating her with a stick.

“That’s not working,” said Mr O’Kelly, explaining that Mrs Corcoran was still conscious.

So he picked up a table top and beat the back of her head until she was unconscious and bleeding, he said.

“He stuffs a shirt into her mouth, a heavy gag, ties her up and leaves her alone and unconscious,” continued Mr O’Kelly. “He returns to her house, ransacks her house, finds the bank cards and, armed with these, heads into Bandon.”

He said Hayes had no success at the Bank of Ireland ATM, but withdrew the maximum amount of €600 from the AIB machine.

“He returns to his house and apparently Anne Corcoran is still alive but just lying on the floor unconscious,” said Mr O’Kelly.

Hayes slept downstairs that night and his victim was dead when he checked her the next day.

“Does he exhibit shock or remorse?” asked Mr O’Kelly. “No. That night he’s back at ATMs in Bandon and withdraws another €600 (from Mrs Corcoran’s account). He goes to Innishannon and does the same.”

Hayes continued to make the maximum withdrawals from the widow’s account over the next few days, while she lay dead in his house, he said

“On the 24th I think, five days after the murder, he goes off with his girlfriend and her son on a skiing holiday to Austria and spends five or six days there,” explained the barrister. “He also pays off a number of bills with the money, the insurance on his car.”

“Before he goes to Austria, he has to get rid of her body,” he said.

He said Hayes wrapped Mrs Corcoran’s body in bin bags and brought it to a wood near Ballinaspittle, where he used petrol to set it on fire.

The court heard that the last-known contact with Mrs Corcoran was a phone call she made about 5pm on January 19. People became suspicious over the following week.

A man painting her house noticed that she was never around and that her usually well-looked after dogs were locked in her house and upset. Dog faeces could be seen on all of the floors inside. A number of pots and pans full of water were on the kitchen floor.

Her former mechanic noticed her car parked across from a garage in Bandon for a number of days. A friend became concerned when she could not contact her.

All three contacted the gardaí on January 27 or 28.

Investigators immediately checked the widow’s bank accounts and discovered the transactions Hayes had made.

They viewed CCTV footage of the bank machines for the transaction times, which were usually shortly before or after midnight. The culprit wore a cap or hood but they identified his build and clothing.

The barrister said the defendant’s house was searched and traces of Mrs Corcoran’s blood were found in an upstairs bedroom, and on a stick. Hayes was arrested.

After initial denials, Hayes admitted his actions, that he wanted her unconscious and that when he couldn’t knock her out with the stick, he went for the table top and "battered her over the head with it", he said.

The autopsy found she died of head wounds and due to a gag impeding her breathing.

Mr O’Kelly, described as nonsense any suggestion by Hayes that he “only set out to rob her”.

“He abducted her, tied her up with a dog’s lead, tortured her back at his house,” he said, describing as callous Hayes’ cleaning out of her account and going on holidays with the money.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of five women and seven men and is expected to last two weeks.