Court told man intended to plead guilty to murder

A Co Donegal man "unequivocally" instructed his lawyers that he would plead guilty to the murder of an elderly pensioner, his former barrister told the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday. Mr Patrick MacEntee SC added that he had put no pressure on Paul Lynch to plead guilty.

He had explained all the options to Lynch, and Lynch was content with a formula where he would plead guilty and Mr MacEntee would tell the court he had not deliberately set out to kill. .

Lynch had never said to him: "It's too late now" or words to that effect when asked on the morning of his trial if he wanted to change his plea, Mr MacEntee said. He was "absolutely sure" he did not want to change his mind.

He had advised him some days earlier to plead guilty to murder, but the decision was solely Lynch's. On the facts of the case, it was totally unreal to plead manslaughter.

Mr MacEntee was giving evidence on the fourth day of an appeal by Lynch (22), of Bally brollaghan, Frosses, against his conviction for the murder of Mr William Campbell (77), in the course of a robbery at his home at nearby Drumard, between 3.30 p.m. on September 22nd and 10 a.m. on September 23rd, 1995. The appeal concluded yesterday and judgment was reserved.

Lynch claims he was put under improper pressure by his lawyers to plead guilty to the murder, and therefore the plea is void. His claims have been denied by his then solicitor, Mr Dara Robinson, and were also rejected yesterday by Mr MacEntee.

Mr MacEntee told the court he was retained by Mr Robinson, of Garrett Sheehan & Company, as senior counsel for Lynch in 1996. When he first spoke to Lynch in summer 1996 he had a provisional view, subject to what Lynch said, that on paper the prosecution had a very strong case.

Lynch did not challenge his admissions to gardai in a statement, an experienced forensic psychiatrist had concluded there was no evidence to support an insanity defence and Lynch himself made it clear he did not want to pursue that course.

Mr MacEntee said he did not think there was an opening for manslaughter because of a "tripartite" assault by Lynch on Mr Campbell, whom Lynch had set out to rob.

Lynch had hit Mr Campbell with a pot and he fell on the ground. Lynch had rained more blows on the old man, the pot handle fell off, then Lynch took money from Mr Campbell's pockets, put a ligature around his mouth, then, because he was making gurgling noises, hit him again with the pot.

Mr MacEntee said Lynch's mother had great difficulty accepting her son could have committed the offence and believed there was an issue regarding causation of the death of Mr Campbell. Medical records about his hospital treatment were procured, but a hospital consultant who examined them concluded there was no substance to Mrs Lynch's claims.

At a consultation on January 27th, 1997, Mr MacEntee had told Mrs Lynch he had come to the conclusion that this might be a case where he would be advising her son his best option might be to plead guilty, if he was minded to do so.

He also directed a psychological examination of Lynch because there was no satisfactory solution to the problem of why a boy from a very decent family should use such appalling violence.