Murder trial Jury in hotel after failing to reach a verdict

A jury in a murder trial have been sent to a hotel overnight after failing to reach a verdict in the Central Criminal Court yesterday…

A jury in a murder trial have been sent to a hotel overnight after failing to reach a verdict in the Central Criminal Court yesterday.

Mr Andrew Brennan (28), of St Munchin's Street, St Mary's Park, Limerick, has denied the murder of Mr Sean Colbert (53), of Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, Limerick, outside his home on August 9th, 1996.

The court has previously heard that on the evening of his death Mr Colbert was returning from a public house and was walking up the steps of his home when the shots were fired.

Bullets found at the scene and injuries to Mr Colbert's body indicated that a .22 revolver had been fired, penetrating his lung, which was the main cause of death.

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Earlier, in summing up for the prosecution, Mr Ralph Sutton SC told the jury of seven men and five women that confessional statements allegedly made voluntarily by the accused were corroborated by a scanner that was alleged to have been used on the night of the shooting.

In his summing up for the defence, Mr Martin Giblin SC told the jury that it was "Alice in Wonderland logic" to suggest that the scanner was corroborative evidence because it had been mentioned in statements and there were "cogent reasons" for not relying on those statements.

"The only evidence in the case is evidence contained in statements that Mr Brennan is alleged to have made voluntarily," he said, adding that "confessional evidence alone is something you need to be very careful about".

After it had deliberated for just over five hours, Mr Justice Quirke sent the jury to a hotel.