Nevin gets 7 years on each soliciting count

Convicted murderer Catherine Nevin was sentenced to seven years yesterday on each of three counts of soliciting men to kill her…

Convicted murderer Catherine Nevin was sentenced to seven years yesterday on each of three counts of soliciting men to kill her husband in 1989 and 1990, six years before she had him murdered. Her lawyers sought leave to appeal on over 20 grounds, but were refused.

Nevin travelled from Mount joy Prison to the Central Criminal Court for the sentence hearing, almost two months after she was jailed for life for the murder of her husband, Tom Nevin (54), at Jack White's Inn, Ballinapark, near Arklow, Co Wicklow, on March 19th, 1996.

On April 11th a jury delivered guilty verdicts on three counts of soliciting and one count of murder after a record 29 1/2 hours.

Yesterday Ms Justice Carroll told Nevin: "I don't intend to give you a lecture on what happened," and sentenced her to seven years in jail for each conviction for soliciting. The three jail terms will run concurrent with the life sentence.

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The judge refused a defence application for a certificate for leave to appeal. She also declined to make an order continuing legal aid for an appeal. She said she could not do so without sight of documents that disclose Mrs Nevin's assets.

Mr Patrick MacEntee SC said the documents and other court orders had been shown to Mr Justice Carney previously. Ms Justice Carroll asked was she expected to grant legal aid without seeing those documents. She said she was in no position to make the order.

The defence lawyers, led by Mr MacEntee, sought the certificate for leave to appeal on over 20 separate grounds. Announcing the first ground of appeal, Mr MacEntee said that on May 30th Catherine Nevin's solicitor, Mr Garrett Sheehan, received a letter from the Chief State Solicitor acting on the instructions of the DPP.

A document had been drawn to the attention of the DPP by the Revenue solicitors' office. The document lists public houses, which were the subject of inquiries by the Garda Anti-Racketeering Unit. The inquiries related to any connection the pubs might have had with the IRA or suspected members of the IRA. Jack White's Inn had been on the list, said Mr MacEntee.

He sought leave to appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal on the grounds that the DPP had failed to disclose the document to the defence during the trial.

For the prosecution, Mr Tom O'Connell said: "I want to categorically dispel any suggestion that Jack White's was on a list of suspected IRA pubs." He said it was only after the conclusion of the trial the document was brought to the attention of the DPP's office.

On April 11th, a jury found Catherine Nevin guilty of murder by a unanimous verdict, and she was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment.

The jury, by a majority of 11 to one, also found Nevin guilty of soliciting John Jones to murder Tom Nevin on dates in or about 1989. They unanimously found her guilty of soliciting Gerry Heapes to murder her husband in or about 1990. And they found her guilty by 11 to one of soliciting William McClean to murder Tom Nevin on a date unknown in St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin in 1990.