Catherine Nevin was at the Court of Criminal Appeal today for the hearing of her application for orders requiring the DPP to handover documents alleged to be “hugely relevant” to her bid to have her conviction declared a miscarriage of justice.
The documents sought include Garda security files on three men who gave evidence against Nevin at her trial and also include material relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974.
Lawyers for Nevin claim the documents will assist her in undermining the three men’s credibility.
Nevin (55) was found guilty in April 2000 of the murder of her husband at their pub, Jack White’s Inn, Brittas Bay, on March 19th 1996.
She was also convicted of soliciting three different men, Gerry Heapes, William McClean and John Jones to kill her husband in 1989 and 1990.
She is serving a life sentence on the murder charge and a concurrent seven-year term on the soliciting charges. Her appeal against conviction was dismissed in 2003.
Nevin’s application opened before the three-judge court today and was adjourned later in the afternoon following an application by the DPP to have certain documents in the State’s possession ruled as privileged.
Tom O’Connell SC, for the DPP, argued the documents in question, which have not been seen by Nevins’ legal team, should be deemed privileged for public interest reasons.
Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, presiding at the CCA and sitting with Mr Justice Liam McKechnie and Mr Justice George Birmingham, said it wanted the DPP to file an affidavit outlining the basis for the claim of privilege. A date for the resumed hearing will be fixed later.
Nevin is seeking an order requiring the DPP to answer whether the three witnesses at her trial - William McClean, Gerard Heapes and John Jones - were ever State informers and whether Mr McClean, with whom Nevin denied havingh an affair, had paramilitary connections.
She wants other material and documents alleged to be relevant to her claim of a miscarriage of justice. Her lawyers also intend to apply to have a journalist called to give information about an article which refers to documents alleged to be relevant to the case.
