Mark Nash lawyers claim application for parole was blocked

Lawyers for convicted serial killer Mark Nash have told the Supreme Court the delay in charging him with the murders of two women in Grangegorman, Dublin, meant he was prevented making an earlier application for parole.

Nash (43) was jailed for life last year for the murders of Mary Callinan (61) and Sylvia Shiels (59) in 1997. He was already serving a life sentence imposed in 1998 for another double murder in Co Roscommon in August 1997, of Catherine Doyle (28) and her husband Carl (29).

Nash was charged in 2009 with the Grangegorman murders and later convicted after the Supreme Court upheld a High Court refusal to stop his trial on grounds the delay in charging him created a real risk of an unfair trial. The trial judge in the Grangegorman prosecution refused to backdate his sentence to reflect he was serving life for the first murders.

After the Supreme Court dismissed his challenge prohibiting his trial for the Grangegorman murders, a claim for damages and legal costs remained outstanding.

The five-judge court dealing with the matter had included Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, who died last month, and he has been replaced by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne.

Hugh Hartnett SC, for Nash, told the court on Wednesday he was seeking costs and damages because Nash was locked out from applying for parole after seven or eight years because of the delay in charging him.

Had he been tried in 2002, when the authorities were satisfied he could be charged with the Grangegorman murders, and after conviction, he would have been able to apply for parole at this time, Mr Hartnett said.

The Supreme Court adjourned the matter for three weeks to receive written submissions on the issue from both sides.