A Dublin book-keeper has been cleared of murdering his wife by a jury at the Central Criminal Court. Mr Paul O'Donohoe was hugged by friends as the jury returned its verdict after two-and-a-half hours of deliberations.
Mr O'Donohoe said afterwards he was delighted with the verdict and 41/2 years was a long time to wait for justice.
Mr O'Donohoe (44) of Aberdeen Street, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to the murder or manslaughter of his estranged wife, Miriam (42), at her home in Ashfield Gardens, Mulhuddart, on or about January 25th, 1997.
During the three-week trial the jury heard evidence from Mr O'Donohoe's two young children that he had been with them all weekend. Barry (seven), said their father had slept in the same room as him that weekend. He said he woke his father late on Saturday night because he had a pain in his stomach. His father went down to the kitchen with him to get some medicine and rang Ms O'Donohoe the next day to seek advice, the court heard.
Prosecutors had alleged that Mr O'Donohoe had cycled out to Ms O'Donohoe's house late at night and had strangled her.