A 48-year-old man who was due to go on trial on Wednesday has admitted to murdering his younger brother at their home in north Dublin nearly two years ago.
Gary Murtagh, of Broadstone, Dublin 7, was charged with the murder of his Paul Murtagh (42) at their family home on Auburn Street, Phibsborough on November 6th, 2020.
When originally arraigned before the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Murtagh pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to his brother’s manslaughter at that address. The plea was not accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Mr Justice Paul McDermott swore in a jury to hear the trial.
The trial was expected to open before the panel of 10 men and two women on Tuesday but did not go ahead as scheduled. Mr Justice McDermott told the jurors that discussions needed to take place between lawyers in order to shorten the trial.
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Development
When the jurors returned to court on Wednesday, Mr Justice McDermott told them there had been a development in the case. Fiona Murphy SC, defending, said Gary Murtagh could be re-arraigned in the presence of the jury. He then pleaded guilty to the charge of murdering his brother.
Addressing the jury, Mr Justice McDermott told them that this plea of guilty to a murder had brought an end to the trial. “This sometimes happens, sometimes these developments occur after a jury has been empanelled. This resolves your requirement to deliver a verdict.”
He thanked the jury, told them that they were free to go and exempted them from jury service for five years.
When the jury left the courtroom, John O’Kelly SC, prosecuting, said that since there was only one sentence to be handed down he understood that the matter could be dealt with very quickly.
Ms Murphy asked Mr Justice McDermott to allow her client to remain on bail until next Monday but the judge said the accused had entered a guilty plea to murder and he could not do that. Murtagh was remanded in custody until next Monday, when he will be sentenced. The judge directed the preparation of a victim impact report for that date.