Two defendants accused of murdering a man whose body was allegedly thrown off the Sliabh Liag cliffs in Donegal each claimed the other “did it”, a barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.
Bernard Condon SC opened the trial on Friday morning of Nikita Burns (22) and Alan Vial (39) who deny the murder of Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin on June 25th, 2023 in Donegal. Mr Condon said the prosecution case is that the two accused caused Mr Wilkin’s death having engaged in a joint enterprise with the intention to cause serious injury to the deceased.
Where two or more people set out on a criminal enterprise, Mr Condon told the jury each one is responsible in law for the actions of the other.
While the statement of one accused person cannot be used as evidence against the other, Mr Condon said in this case the jury will hear that each of the accused said that the other “did it”.
Mr Condon also pointed out that Ms Burns has pleaded guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another person for an arrestable offence.
Ms Burns of Carrick, Co Donegal has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another person for an arrestable offence.
Mr Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal, pleaded not guilty.
Mr Condon said Mr Wilkin was originally from Tyrone but had been transient with no fixed abode for some time. In the months prior to his death, he had come to know Alan Vial and moved into Mr Vial’s home in Killybegs.
Ms Burns, counsel said, also had no fixed abode but spent some time living in Mr Vial’s home.
Mr Condon said it is alleged that Mr Wilkin was assaulted in an area known as Roshine before being driven to Sliabh Liag. Whether he was dead when he was put over the cliffs is undetermined, counsel said, adding: “But you can be fairly sure he didn’t choose to go over the cliffs himself.”
Counsel described Sliabh Liag as “some of the most magnificent cliffs in Europe”, three times higher than the Cliffs of Moher.
A central part of the prosecution case is CCTV footage which Mr Condon said shows the movements of the two accused with Mr Wilkin in a Volkswagen Passat on the night of June 24th 2023 and into the early hours of the following day.
Mr Condon said the three left McIntyre’s Bar in Dunkineely at about 1.30am and travelled in the Passat to Roshine.
After leaving the Roshine area, Mr Condon said the car was seen on CCTV at 2.20am passing the ranger’s hut at Sliabh Liag and travelling towards the top of the cliffs. After about 38 minutes, the car came back down at which point the prosecution alleges Mr Wilkin had been put over the cliff.
Mr Condon said there will be further evidence that the following afternoon, the two accused called to the home of Mr Vial’s brother Bruce in Ardara where they used a multipurpose cleaner to clean the Passat.
Having left Ardara, the accused were involved in a car crash at about 5.30pm which resulted in Mr Vial being arrested for drunk driving while Ms Burns was noted to be “the worse for wear”.
That night, Ms Burns went to a friend’s house where she made admissions to assaulting and disposing of Mr Wilkin’s body, counsel said. Ms Burns was arrested the following morning and Mr Vial was arrested a short time later.
During garda interviews, Ms Burns initially denied any knowledge of what happened but later said Mr Vial had struck Mr Wilkin with a rock and disposed of his body. She admitted that she helped to clean the car, counsel said.
In his interviews, Mr Vial made admissions regarding an assault but denied murder or that he disposed of the body.
Mr Condon also outlined forensic evidence the prosecution intends to call.
At Sliabh Liag, gardaí found various items with blood matching Mr Wilkin’s, including a grey jumper, a white blanket and a bloodied rock, which the prosecution alleges was used to assault Mr Wilkin. The blood on the rock matched Mr Wilkin’s DNA, Mr Condon said.
Gardaí conducted a large-scale search involving the coastguard, helicopters, cliff climbers and drones. Mr Wilkin’s body was recovered from the water one week later.
A postmortem could not determine the cause of death but State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster identified two depressed fractures to the head caused by blows from a blunt object that were administered while Mr Wilkin was alive. Dr Bolster will say that the rock found at Sliabh Liag was “entirely consistent” with having caused those fractures, counsel said.
Mr Condon said the prosecution intends to satisfy the jury that in each case, there is sufficient evidence to return verdicts of murder.
The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.
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