Madam, – I wish to avoid a potential misunderstanding arising from a court report published in The Irish Timeson October 21st. The report, headed "Delays over Nevin case interminable, says judge", referred to a hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) of matters relating to the attempt by Catherine Nevin to have her conviction for murder declared a miscarriage of justice.
According to the report, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman queried why an “extraordinarily large volume” of newspaper cuttings had been exhibited on behalf of Nevin when their evidential value was “nil”. The report continued: “He said an affidavit by journalist John Waters filed for the application contained hearsay matters. It was a case of ‘back to the future’, the same point about hearsay evidence having been made by the court a year ago, he added”.
Later in the report it was stated that Catherine Nevin’s lawyers “are also seeking to have Mr Waters called to give information about a newspaper article which refers to documents alleged to be relevant to the case”.
For the avoidance of doubt allow me to say that the affidavit I have provided to the court at the request of Catherine Nevin’s lawyers does not seek to offer any article of mine as direct evidence in the case.
It is true that appended to said affidavit is a photocopy of an article of mine which was published in The Irish Timeson January 28th, 2008.
However, the substance of the affidavit relates not to this article, but to the fact that, in the wake of its publication, I was approached by an individual who provided me with certain information which I brought to the attention of Catherine Nevin’s lawyers. This individual subsequently submitted an affidavit of his own, which has now been placed before the CCA. The purpose of my affidavit was to outline the circumstances of this witness’s approach to me, and my Irish Times article was appended purely to make the context quite clear.
I have no idea whether I will be called to give evidence before the CCA, but if I am, I imagine my evidence will relate to the content of my affidavit rather than anything I have written in a newspaper article. – Yours, etc,