A three judge court today reserved judgment in an appeal brought by Clare woman, Sharon Collins, against her conviction for soliciting a hitman to murder her partner Robert Howard and his two sons in 2006.
Collins, a mother of two, was also found guilty of three counts of conspiring to kill the men.
She is attempting to overturn her conviction in respect of four main points, among them the evidence of Teresa Engle, Eid’s second wife who was a convicted felon and awaiting sentence in the US at the time of the trial.
The CCA, of Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan presiding, sitting with Mr Justice Declan Budd and Mr Justice Daniel O’Keefe, indicated there would be “some delay” in giving a judgment, and that it may not be delivered until the next legal term.
However, at the opening of the two day appeal hearing yesterday, the State conceded it was not possible to “stand over” her conviction in respect of these, as it was “logically unsustainable”.
The Court heard there was “a mountain of evidence” to prove Sharon Collins solicited a person to kill the three Howards.
Her appeal also focused on the treatment of evidence relating to the poison ricin, found in Mr Eid’s prison cell prior to their trial, and the judge’s charge to the jury on the soliciting charge.
Eid, a former Las Vegas poker dealer, also lost his appeal today against the severity of a six jail term handed down to him for demanding money with menace.
The Court of Criminal Appeal rejected a bid by Eid, an Egyptian national with an address in Nevada, USA to have his sentence reduced, finding the term should stand, given the serious nature of the offence.
Eid (54) was jailed in October 2008 after being found guilty of demanding €100,000 from Robert Howard in Ennis on September 26th, 2006 in exchange for not killing him, his brother Niall and their father PJ Howard.
He was also found guilty of handling items stolen from the Howard family business the previous night.
Today, Mr David Sutton SC, for Mr Eid, argued this was “about as unusual” a case as had ever been heard in the State, “coming from the Souks of Cairo, to the gaming halls of Vegas via The Queens Hotel in Ennis”.
The court heard that on September 26th, 2006, Eid rang Robert Howard posing as Tony Luciano and told him he had heard the Howards’ were missing some computers and that he would be at the house in five minutes.
He told Mr Howard there was a contract out on the lives of himself, his brother and his father and offered him the chance to buy himself and his family out of the contract for €100,000.
Lawyers for Eid said there was an “element of slight absurdity” that “an eccentric middle aged man” like their client could be considered menacing in this context.
The appeal, the court heard, hinged mainly on “an error of principle”, in that Eid was given the same sentence, as that handed down to Sharon Collins.