Glasses found by the Garda Water Unit at the bottom of the Vartry Reservoir belonged to Elaine O’Hara, the jury in the trial of Graham Dwyer has been told.
Peter Curtis, retail director at Specsavers, said an eight digit code on the inside of the glasses’ frame, found by the Garda underwater unit, identified them. When the glasses were tested, the prescription was identified.
Both the prescription and the code matched details on file for Ms O’Hara. Mr Curtis said that was very unique and he believed they were the glasses of Ms O’Hara.
The glasses were found by Garda Enda Broderick on October 7th, 2013, using an underwater metal detector.
Mr Dwyer (42), a south Dublin architect from Kerrymount Close in Foxrock, is charged with murdering Dublin childcare worker Ms O’Hara (36) in Co Dublin on August 22nd, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ms O’ Hara’s remains were found in the Dublin Mountains on September 13th, 2013.
Detailed evidence was given of items removed from the reservoir in September and October.
The jury was told, by Eamon Fleming, engineer in charge of the reservoir, that June 2013 was the driest summer since 1995 and water levels dropped rapidly.
The average during the summer was a drop of two metres, but in 2013, it dropped five, he said. This was “unusual” but “not unknown”. He said 2012 was a “very unusual year” as the reservoir “nearly never dropped at all” and water in the trench below the bridge was 3.5 to 4 metres deep.
In August 2012, the reservoir was “overflowing”, but on September 15th, 2013, it was minus 3.26 metres, he said.
Anglers
William Fegan, a member of Wicklow Anglers Association, told the court he, his brother James and a friend, Mark Quinn, saw items in the water from a bridge over the reservoir at Roundwood on September 10th, 2013.
They pulled a number of items from the water using a tension strap with a hook on the end. These included a blue hoodie-type top, a white vest top, rusted chains with handcuffs, a blindfold, leg restraints, an item known as a ball gag and a harness used as a bondage restraint.
Mr Fegan said they left the items on a wall. But when he had been driving later that night he had “plenty of time to think”.
“I had a good think about what we found,” he said. “I thought maybe there was something not right.”
He returned on September 11th, put the items into a bag and brought it to Roundwood Garda station.
Cross-examined by Ronan Kennedy, for the defence, Mr Fegan agreed gardaí had not asked him to show them where the items were found.
The garda to whom he gave the items, Garda James O’Donoghue, said when he received them, they appeared to have been submerged for quite a while. He said the clothing was soaking wet and heavily soiled. Other items were soiled but in good condition and could be identified. The metal cuffs and chains were discoloured due to rust but otherwise in quite good condition, he said.
Murky water
He said he went to the scene where the items were found after calling Mr Fegan to confirm the location the following day, but could not see anything in the water. He returned again on September 14th, but it was windy and the water was murky and he did not find anything.
On September 16th, conditions were more favourable, and he could see items in the water. He waded in and searching by touch, he retrieved a set of keys with loyalty cards, a rusted chain, a leather bondage mask with zip closings under the eyes and mouth and air holes for the nostrils, a length of rope, a knife and an inhaler.
Under cross-examination, Garda O’Donoghue agreed it was not possible to say how the items got into the water or if they went in at the same time.
As a result of inquiries with Dunnes Stores, Garda O’Donoghue was told the company fob belonged to Ms O’Hara. He searched the pulse system and found Ms O’Hara was a missing person.
The scene at Vartry then became a crime scene and other gardaí, including the Garda Water Unit, became involved in the search.
Metal detector
Gardaí crawled and searched with their fingertips, the jury was told. An underwater metal detector was used to find items.
Items recovered included a white vibrator and black sex toys, Nokia phones, tape, a battery top, a dressing gown and shorts, a set of handcuffs on a chain and two knives. The unit also recovered a camera lens and the sawn-off barrels of a double-barrelled shotgun beside a rucksack.
Garda Enda Broderick, who operated the metal detector, said it was so sensitive it could pick up tiny items.
He found a Nokia mobile phone with a sim card beside it, a pair of glasses, sun glasses, a gold bracelet, a Tesco mobile sim card and a metal band. These items were found “in a very small concentration” south of the bridge.
Garda Lorcan Byrne said he used sub-aqua apparatus and could lie down in the water and carry out a fingertip search. He found the back cover of a mobile phone and a Nokia battery, a rope with a knot and a “balaclava” with a single opening, called a “ninjaclava”. He discovered a computer desk top, a Dire Straits CD, a mattress, a small tub and “various socks”.
The case continues before Mr Justice Tony Hunt.
