Crawford appeals life sentence for 2007 murder in Limerick

A man who was jailed for life has applied to have his conviction for murder overturned in the Court of Appeal.

Greg Crawford (27) of St Munchin’s Street, St Mary’s Park, Limerick, pleaded not guilty to murdering Gareth Brosnan-Grant at St Ita’s Street, St Mary’s Park, in the city on October 8th, 2007.

He was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court and given the mandatory life sentence by Mr Justice Paul Carney on March 3rd, 2012.

Moving an appeal against conviction, Brendan Grehan SC submitted that the identification of Crawford by witnesses and the way that was dealt with in the trial were principal grounds for appeal.

Giving evidence at the trial Mr Grant’s partner Claire Ronan said she heard a gunshot on the night, ran out to the street and saw a man she recognised as Crawford standing over her boyfriend’s body.

Mr Grehan told the Court of Appeal that Ms Ronan had initially told gardaí that she could not see Crawford’s face but in a Garda statement two months later, she said she could see Crawford’s face.

Ms Ronan also initially told gardaí that the man she saw was of similar build to Crawford but two months later she said it was Crawford. These were classic identification matters which called for an identification warning to the jury, Mr Grehan said.

However, Mr Justice Carney did not adequately contextualise the warning to the particular circumstances of the case as he was required to do by case law, Mr Grehan submitted.

It is on that basis that Crawford is seeking to have his conviction overturned.

It was not sufficient to refer back to what defence counsel said during his closing speech in abstract terms, Mr Grehan said. The judge was required to contextualise the warning to the facts of the case.

Mr Grehan further submitted that there was an illegal entry by gardaí into the home of Crawford’s grandparents after the shooting.

Gardaí had entered the home under section 29 of the Offences Against the State Act, a power which had since been nullified by the Supreme Court, Mr Grehan said.

It would have appeared legal at the time “even if [they] had a lawyer on their shoulder” but the power had since been nullified, Mr Grehan said. “There was no power of entry authorised by law.”

Thomas Creed SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said Mr Justice Carney had contextualised the warning to particular facts of the case when he mentioned Ms Ronan’s statement during his identification warning.

Mr Creed said the judge had carefully warned the jury and told them that mistakes had been made in the past. Even if the witness was mistaken, Mr Creed said, the case would not have been any weaker.

If Crawford had not been identified, there was a series of coincidences amounting to circumstantial evidence for the jury to come to the conclusion that Crawford fired the shot that killed Mr Grant, Mr Creed added.

He said Crawford immediately had a shower which would have washed off any firearm residue and the gun was found in his grandparents’ house beside a glove with his DNA on it.

This was an unusual case, Mr Creed said, in that it was not the means by which Ms Ronan identified Crawford that was challenged but that she identified him at all.

Mr Creed said that gardaí had been allowed into the house by Crawford’s grandparents. The house was treated as a crime scene and there was no argument to be made by Mr Grehan in respect of entry to the grandparents’ house .

Mr Justice George Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice John Edwards, said the court would reserve judgment until February 16th.