This article is from page 5 of the 2006-01-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
THE trial of an Ennistymon man accused of murdering his sister at their family home will not now go ahead this month, as had been scheduled.
Patrick O’Dwyer (20), of Shrohill, Ennistymon, is charged with murdering his 17-year-old sister Marguerite, a Leaving Certificate student, on November 29, 2004.
The date of January 24 had been set aside for the trial, last October, but The Clare People has learned it will not now go-ahead for a number of months, until a medical report on the accused has been completed.
“It is being put back. The defence’s legal team has requested this as they are waiting for a medical report and the State won’t object,” said a garda source.
It is not yet known if the trial will now go-ahead in Ennis, or elsewhere. That decision will rest with Mr Justice Paul Carney, who fixes dates for murder trials.
Mr O’Dwyer was sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court last year.
When he appeared there initially, Mr Justice Carney said he was anxious that the case should go ahead as early as possible, in an effort to provide closure for the O’Dwyer family.
The case was then put in for mention when the Central Criminal Court sat in Ennis last June.
On that occasion the court was told there were complex matters in the case and an adjournment was requested.
This was granted and the case was then put back until July in Dublin, for mention.
In July, the case was put back until October, for a date to be fixed and January 24 next – when the Central Criminal Court will sit in Ennis – was fixed for the trial to go ahead.