THE 42-year-old Waterford bus driver who was last year acquitted of the murder of his wife Meg Walsh yesterday failed in a court bid to get back all the items belonging to her which were taken by gardaí during the investigation.
John O’Brien from Dunavarra, Ballinakill Downs, in Waterford city had applied last year under the terms of the Police Property Act for the return of the items.
Ms Walsh disappeared from the home she shared with Mr O’Brien at Dunavarra on October 1st, 2006.
Her body was recovered from the river Suir on October 15th, 2006.
A postmortem revealed that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Mr O’Brien denied any involvement in her death and he was acquitted of her killing by a jury on May 9th, 2008, following a four-week trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.
Last October, Mr O’Brien applied at Waterford District Court for the return of some items.
The Garda had contested the application, saying that the investigation was ongoing.
Ms Walsh’s daughter, Sasha Keating, had also sought the return of the items.
Yesterday, Judge John Lindsay ordered that a number of items be returned to Mr O’Brien within 21 days.
Those items include a Toshiba laptop, a stained pair of men’s jeans, a blazer and some shirts and shoes.
However he refused Mr O’Brien’s application in respect of five items.
Those items are: Ms Walsh’s black purse and credit card, a Bank of Ireland passcard, her Mitsubishi Carisma car, a gold necklace found on her body and some rings.
The judge said that Ms Walsh had been unlawfully killed and Mr O’Brien had been prosecuted for her murder and acquitted.
However, he noted that the legislation provided for the possibility of more than one prosecution being brought.
He said public policy dictated that the investigation into Ms Walsh’s murder should continue so that the person or persons responsible could be brought to account.
“It is reasonable and practical for the State to retain the five items sought,” he said.
However, the judge, who heard that gardaí continue to classify Ms Walsh’s murder as “a live investigation” said that he did not believe it was appropriate to allow gardaí retain the items indefinitely.
He fixed a review date in May 2011.
“Five years (since Ms Walsh’s murder) will have passed by May 2011 by which time we will know how the investigation stands and the likelihood of a prosecution,” said the judge.
He struck out the application by Ms Keating for the return of the items to her.
Mr O’Brien did not attend yesterday’s hearing.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Walsh’s brother, James and her daughter, Ms Keating expressed satisfaction that the State was successful in retaining the items of evidence.