Defence lawyer urges Cardy jury to be dispassionate
The jury in serial killer Robert Black's latest murder trial must not let their opinion of him cloud their judgment, his defence lawyer urged.
Natural sympathy for the family of his alleged victim Jennifer Cardy cannot be a factor in their deliberations, either, David Spens QC told Armagh Crown Court.
Delivering his closing statement, Mr Spens said the case must be judged on the facts alone and insisted the Crown had completely failed to prove Black's guilt.
The 64-year-old convicted triple child killer from Scotland is accused of kidnapping and murdering nine-year-old Jennifer in the North 30 years ago while on a day-long work trip to the region.
Mr Spens insisted there was no conclusive evidence Black was even in the North and claimed the circumstances of the little girl's abduction and death had "striking dissimilarities" with his client's other crimes.
"It must be very difficult for Jennifer Cardy's parents to relive all of this," he said.
The schoolgirl's father, Andy, her mother Patricia and her brother Mark watched from the public gallery as the lawyer opened his address while Black listened from the dock behind his defence advocate.
"You would have the utmost sympathy for her family and at the same time you would have absolutely no sympathy for Mr Black," Mr Spens continued.
"It may be that some or all of you would want to convict him because of what you know about him and to give some closure to the Cardy family."
But he added: "Sympathy can play no part in you deliberations."
Mr Spens stressed that the nine women and three men of the jury must assess the evidence "coolly, calmly and dispassionately".
Jennifer disappeared as she cycled to a friend's house in the quiet Co Antrim village of Ballinderry on August 12, 1981.
Her body was found six days later floating in a dam behind a roadside lay-by 18 miles away at Hillsborough, Co Down.
On day 19 of the trial, Mr Spens claimed there was no evidence Jennifer had been sexually assaulted, noting that Black was known for molesting young girls he had taken.
The Crown contends Black would have driven past the lay-by where Jennifer was found on the A1 dual carriageway while doing delivery drops between Belfast and Newry for his London-based poster dispatch firm.
During the trial, they pointed to old work records and fuel receipts as evidence he was on a Northern Ireland run on the day Jennifer disappeared.
When Black was presented with these documents under police interview in 2005, he said he accepted he would have been there.
But Mr Spens said there was not one piece of evidence that stated definitively that he was in the region.
He claimed his client's "so-called admission" to being there was "absolutely worthless" as he made it while under a false impression of where one of the fuel receipts was issued.
He said the evidence his client was in the North on the day was "weak, flimsy and ultimately unsatisfactory".
"The prosecution has simply failed to prove their case against Mr Black, they have failed to prove he was in Northern Ireland on August 12 1981 and in particular that he was in Newry," he said.
Mr Spens said this evidence was supposed to establish whether Black had the opportunity to commit the crime was therefore absolutely fundamental.
He asked the jury could they be sure beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant was definitely in Northern Ireland on the day.
Turning to the circumstances of Jennifer's disappearance and murder, the lawyer said there were a number of factors that simply didn't follow Black's signature of offending.
These included:
* Jennifer was wearing trousers when she was snatched. Mr Spens said Black had an expressed preference for little girls in skirts;
* The schoolgirl was still wearing both shoes when she was found. Black's lawyer said this was not the case with his other victims;
* Ballinderry was at least eight miles from Black's customary delivery route when he was in Northern Ireland. Mr Spens said all the abductions Black had been found guilty of were very close to his work routes;
* Mr Spens said there was no sign Jennifer was gagged, while there was evidence Black had done that to a number of his victims;
* The lawyer claimed there was also no conclusive evidence Jennifer's clothes had been disturbed, while on Black's other victims there was.
The trial has heard conflicting expert assessments on the pathology tests on Jennifer's body, in particular on whether she had been sexually assaulted.
The pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination - Professor Thomas Marshall - in 1981 said he found no evidence of sexual assault while another expert - Dr Nathaniel Cary - who reviewed those findings for the Crown more than 20 years on claimed a sex attack was possible.
Highlighting the differences of opinion, Mr Spens suggested the jury could not be certain Jennifer was sexually assaulted.
He said a sexual motive was involved in the crimes Black had been convicted of.
"What the prosecution are trying to do is to fit a square peg - Mr Black - into a round hole - the circumstances of Jennifer Cardy's murder," he said.
"It doesn't work."
The trial continues.
