Farmer impassive as facts recounted

For most of yesterday's two-hour appeal hearing, the only movement about Pádraig Nally was the fan-blown waft of his wavy mane of white hair.

Impassive, his fingers templed as though in prayer, the Mayo farmer showed no visible reaction as prosecution lawyer Paul O'Higgins reminded the Court of Criminal Appeal of the facts of the case.

Yesterday's hearing was mainly an occasion for legal argument, but Mr O'Higgins stressed the relevance of the facts of the case to any decision the court might make. He recounted how Nally (62) beat John "Frog" Ward, a Traveller and father of 11, in his yard on October 14th, 2004, then shot him again after the "retreating" Mr Ward had staggered down the lane.

Brendan Grehan, defending, chose not to dwell on the case details, preferring to concentrate on what he said was a single important point of appeal: whether or not a trial judge could direct a jury to convict in the absence of any concession by the defence that acquittal was not an option.

Last July, Mr Justice Paul Carney did precisely this, by directing the jury in Nally's trial to find him guilty of manslaughter, after they had failed to agree a conviction for murder.

According to Mr Grehan, the decision of Mr Justice Carney to do this ran contrary to all legal authority here and in other jurisdictions. Self-defence, if it is raised, is a matter for the jury to decide and the trial judge may not interfere with this, he argued.

A few of Nally's supporters in court nodded in agreement with this contention but the prisoner, dressed in blue suit, blue check shirt and black runners, kept his head down.

At the back of the court, Martin Collins of Pavee Point, which works for Travellers, kept a quiet eye on proceedings.

Mr Grehan cited a number of prominent cases in support of his argument, including a recent British case in which one of the law lords concluded that "juries do not have the right to be wrong but they have the power to be wrong".

In reserving their judgment, the three appeal judges will have to decide whether to uphold last year's conviction of Nally or to quash it. If they adopt the latter course, they will also have to consider whether to order a retrial.

For now, though, Nally, who was taken from the court chained to a prison officer, remains in jail.