A man facing a retrial for murder after the State asked for the original conviction to be quashed over doubts surrounding evidence from a deputy state pathologist has today admitted to manslaughter.
A man facing a retrial for murder after the State asked for the original conviction to be quashed over doubts surrounding evidence from a deputy state pathologist has today admitted to manslaughter.
Colm Deely (44) had his murder conviction quashed when it emerged the work of the then deputy state pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar had not been peer reviewed.
Deely, of School Road, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, had originally pleaded not guilty to the murder of Deirdre McCarthy (43) at a place unknown on or about March 28, 2011.
Ms McCarthy’s body was found on Fanore Beach, Co Clare, on March 31, 2011.
In June 2013, a jury of seven women and five men at the Central Criminal Court found the father-of-two guilty by unanimous verdict and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Deely later appealed the conviction.
And last December the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction before his appeal began after it emerged Dr Jabbar’s work had not been peer reviewed.
The three-judge court directed that Deely should face a retrial for Ms McCarthy’s murder following a request from the counsel for the Director of Public Prosecution, Paul Greene SC.
Today, at the Central Criminal Court, Deely pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Ms McCarthy.
His plea was accepted by Mr Greene on behalf of the State.
Sentencing was adjourned for the preparation of victim impact reports until March 13 and Deely was remanded in custody until that date by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy.
