Jury in trial of sisters accused of murder sent to hotel overnight

The jury in the trial of two sisters accused of murdering their mother's boyfriend and dumping his remains in the Royal Canal…

The jury in the trial of two sisters accused of murdering their mother's boyfriend and dumping his remains in the Royal Canal, Dublin, will resume its deliberations today after being sent to a hotel overnight.

The jury spent over three hours deliberating yesterday before informing the judge they had not yet reached a verdict in the case of either accused.

Charlotte Mulhall (23), Kilcare Gardens Tallaght, and Linda Mulhall (31), from the same address, have each pleased not guilty to the murder of Farah Swaleh Noor (38), also known as Sheilila Salim, at Richmond Cottages, Ballybough, Dublin, on March 20th last year.

Mr Justice Paul Carney told members of the jury that there were four verdicts open to them in respect of each accused.

READ MORE

They can either be found guilty of murder or in the case of provocation that offence can be reduced to manslaughter.

They must also consider whether either woman acted in self-defence, which could reduce murder to manslaughter or result in a complete acquittal if the force used was found to be reasonably necessary.

The jury must also consider whether each accused is guilty of the offence of "accessory after the fact" of the killing, where they found they were not directly concerned with the killing but gave assistance to the person who perpetrated it.

The jury must also reach verdicts for each sister separately.

Before sending the jury to a hotel, Mr Justice Carney told them "nobody expected you to reach a verdict today having regard to the amount of material you have to consider. " He criticised media reporting which suggested juries "failed" to reach a verdict, and said regard should be given to the amount of material to be considered.