Latest news with #Grehan
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Bohemians confirm return of loan star as they soar to joint second in the table
Alan Reynolds has confirmed that Cian Byrne will return to Bohemians in July and help fill the void left by Sean Grehan's imminent departure. Grehan, who left Bohs for Crystal Palace in 2023 but returned on loan this season, is going back to his parent club for the start of July. The centre-back impressed again in last night's 1-0 win over Derry City at Dalymount Park and said his goodbyes to fans as he left the pitch in his final home game. Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Grehan, 21, will be available for the away matches against Cork City and Waterford when the league resumes on June 13, after the summer break. But then he will be returning to England, with Reynolds set to recall Byrne from his own loan spell at Galway United to help fill the void. The highly rated Leigh Kavanagh, who has been injured, will also be a centre-back option for the Gypspies and so will experienced Englishman Alex Lacey once he is fit. Reynolds said: 'Cian will keep playing for Galway but is back in July. He's been really good for them. We've obviously kept in touch and watched some of his games and I think the loan has been perfect for him. I'm not sure he wanted to go but we felt he needed to play.' Bohs maintained their impressive form to move joint second in the table on the back of the Candystripes win, with Dayle Rooney slotting home a second-minute penalty. It was awarded for a Mark Connolly handball after only 20 seconds and Reynolds said: 'Some say you give it, some say you don't, but look, we'll take it. There were a good few decisions that were tight but the performance, I thought we dominated a lot of it. 'What I'd like us to be is more clinical and put the game to bed earlier. But what I really like is the energy and commitment. Get that side of it right and the crowd will feed off it. That's the way we want to go about it, give them something to get behind us and next thing the place will take off.' The win was Bohemians' fifth in their last six home games and Dalymount Park is a happy hunting ground again for a team that struggled to win in front of their own fans not so long ago. Reynolds said: 'We've had a tough year here and we've finally settled down to a way of playing. Confidence is important and I think the players are getting that. 'It's great to see Rhys Brennan coming on there, a 19-year-old who can't believe his luck that he's playing. Derry are bringing on Gavin Whyte, a different end of it. But we have young players who are hungry to do well for the club.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.
Sunday World
3 days ago
- Sunday World
How Richard Satchwell's defence made last ditch attempt to get jury discharged
REVEALED | He was found guilty by a jury of murdering his wife Tina and burying her under the stairs where she lay for six and a half years. Richard Satchwell (centre) leaving the District Court in Cashel, Co Tipperary, after being charged in connection with the murder of Tina Satchwell (Brian Lawless/PA) The move was resisted by the State, who pointed out that much of the publicity was generated by Satchwell himself. In November last year Brendan Grehan SC, for Satchwell, said that as the media attention was concentrated in Cork, it would be "impossible to retain an impartial jury" there who had not heard of the case and formed "adverse views of Mr Satchwell". Mr Grehan said that most trials can be held in local venues but some generate media attention that can be "macabre" and lead to "greater hostility than it is possible to imagine in an ordinary case." Satchwell's preference, Mr Grehan said, was for the trial to be held in Limerick so it would be closer to the prison where he was being held. "He has a position of responsibility there, which enables him to be a productive prisoner," counsel told the court. Gerardine Small SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed the change of venue, arguing that publicity around the case was national, not local. Also, she said, much of that publicity was generated by Satchwell who "sought the attention of the media" by appearing on radio and television shows. Richard Satchwell (centre) leaving the District Court in Cashel, Co Tipperary, after being charged in connection with the murder of Tina Satchwell (Brian Lawless/PA) News in 90 Seconds - May 30th Ms Small pointed to Satchwell's appearances on RTE's 'Prime Time', TV3's 'Ireland AM', the Ray D'Arcy Show and the numerous interviews he gave to journalists. She added: "It is an unusual factor that it [the media attention] can be attributed to the accused man while he was aware the body of his wife was buried where it was." Mr Justice Paul McDermott agreed to change the venue to Dublin, due to the significant risk of an unfair trial. He said: "The high degree of local coverage and engagement with the case takes it out of the ordinary". "SOMEWHAT OF A SIDE SHOW: TWEETS AND CHARGINGS" During the trial and in the absence of the jury, Mr Grehan applied to exclude Satchwell's "cryptic" reply of "Guilty or not guilty, guilty" when he was formally charged with the murder of Tina on October 13, 2023. Counsel said a second part of the application - which was "somewhat of a side show" - was connected to the fact that a member of the press - Paul Byrne, formerly of Virgin Media News - tweeted that Satchwell was going to be charged before gardai had actually done so. He said Superintendent Anne Marie Twomey had received directions from a legal officer at 7.28pm to charge Satchwell with the murder of his wife and he was formally charged at 8:07pm on October 13. Mr Grehan said Mr Byrne had tweeted at 8.03pm that "a man in his 50's had been charged with the murder of Tina Satchwell" - four minutes before his client was formally charged. Counsel said Michael O'Toole, of The Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star, had "retweeted" at 8.09pm from the handle @mickthehack that "Richard Satchwell had been charged with the murder of his wife". A number of gardai who were called to give evidence in the voir dire denied that they had contacted anyone in the media but accepted that Mr Byrne had tweeted about it several minutes in advance and that Mr O'Toole had named Satchwell as being charged two minutes after it occurred. Mr Grehan said it was "implicit" that contact was made with a number of people in the media "to enable them to do their job". Counsel also submitted that Satchwell should have been informed that he could consult with his solicitor before the charging process took place and was entitled to legal advice "at this critical juncture". "It vitiated the process and the court should not permit the fruits of the charging to be now available to the prosecution," he added. He said the defendant's solicitor Eddie Burke had left the garda station at 7.07pm that evening and didn't arrive back until 8.10pm - three minutes after the charging took place. Read more The lawyer said his client's reply after caution was more prejudicial than probative and would create difficulties in terms of how the jury could be properly directed. In reply, Ms Small said Satchwell, who was interviewed by gardai on ten separate occasions, had a "full appreciation of his entitlement not to say anything" in reply to the caution and was acutely aware of this. The defence, she said, was claiming there is an entitlement to have a solicitor present on charging and she wasn't aware of any such entitlement. She said the entitlement was to legal advice, which Satchwell had received "in abundance". She called the media tweets "completely irrelevant". In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said the defendant's reply was fully voluntary and found that the absence of a solicitor in the garda station had not impaired the fairness of the process. He refused to exclude the reply to charge. DIRECTION TO REMOVE MURDER CHARGE FROM INDICTMENT When the prosecution's case was at an end, Mr Grehan applied to the judge to withdraw the charge of murder against his client, submitting there was no evidence of an intention to kill or cause serious injury, which he said was "a huge lacuna" in the State's case. "It is one of the elements of the offence of murder which the prosecution have to adduce evidence of, which they have singularly failed to do," he argued. He said Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster couldn't give a cause of death due to a very long post mortem period and had confirmed there were no broken bones in Tina's body. He said she wasn't able to conclude anything about the state of the organs due to the lapse of time. Mr Grehan said there was an explanation available to the jury as to how death was caused in the case without the evidence of the pathologist or anthropologist and that explanation was given by his client, where Satchwell said the belt of Tina's bathrobe had been held up against her neck until she collapsed. Counsel said this was the only account available as to what happened to Tina and was of "immense importance" as there was no evidence of violence discovered in the post mortem. Counsel said it was significant that Tina's hyoid bone was un-fractured. He said there was also no medical evidence to say that his client's account of holding Tina off with a restraint against her neck before she collapsed suddenly was not possible. In reply, Ms Small submitted that there was "a wealth of evidence" from the surrounding circumstances in the case from which intent could be inferred. Counsel said the deception began on March 20, 2017 very shortly after Satchwell killed Tina and the plethora of lies were an acknowledgement of guilt. Ms Small said a limited post mortem examination was conducted because the defendant had buried his wife in a manner to ensure the cause of death wasn't available. She added: "There is also motive on his own account, Satchwell says she is threatening to leave him. She has wasted 28 years of her life, that is all part of the evidence for the jury to accept or not". Mr Grehan said the lies told were not sufficient to show intent for murder. Referring to motive, he said there was also clearly a basis for which Tina might have wanted nothing further to do with her husband and attacked him in that manner. In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell's immediate response was to create a false impression that Tina was alive and he had taken every conceivable step to protect himself. He said Satchwell told lie after lie "to any journalist who'd indulge him" and portrayed a scenario that his wife had deserted him suddenly without any explanation. Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell had shown a degree of malevolence towards his wife and the defendant was totally focused on protecting himself from discovery. There had been, he said, a period of six prolonged years before Tina's body, of which Satchwell had disposed of, was found and this was relevant to the issue of intention. He said it was a matter for the jury as to whether Satchwell had formed the requisite intent and whether he was guilty of his wife's murder. He rejected the application to withdraw the murder charge. APPLICATION TO DISCHARGE THE JURY At the very end of the trial, when Mr Justice McDermott had finished charging the jurors, Mr Grehan said on foot of instructions from his client he "regrettably" had to seek the discharge of the jury Counsel voiced his opposition to the tone of the charge, which he said was intended to "nudge" the jurors towards a guilty verdict. Counsel said he became increasingly concerned as the charge proceeded that it was not resembling a charge but a "second prosecution speech" in terms of the emphasis the court was placing on the State's case to the detriment of the defence. Mr Grehan told the judge he had not put the defence case in full at all to the jury. He said the two separate tasks of directions on the law and a summary of the evidence had become "intermingled" and submitted there was no balance in what had been said to the panel. "The whole emphasis of what was said to the court seemed to be to reiterate the prosecution case," he argued. Mr Grehan said the facts of the case "shouted and screamed for themselves" in terms of what Satchwell did and didn't do. "They are not facts that need to be nudged or pushed for the jury in any particular way". Counsel said it was beyond remedy at this stage and the court should discharge the jury. Ms Small called Mr Grehan's application "wholly inappropriate", describing the charge as balanced, fair and extremely comprehensible. "The criticism is unfounded, a court will rarely outline all the evidence, that is a matter for the jury". In his ruling, the judge said this was a difficult case in which to sum up the evidence for the jury and he didn't accept that his charge was "so wildly unbalanced". He disagreed that the absence of references to certain parts of the evidence in any sense justified the jury being discharged. Mr Justice McDermott refused the application but did give the jury further directions in relation to two matters of which complaints were made, one relating to the detailed evidence of Lorraine Howard concerning her half sister Tina, the other to evidence that Satchwell loved or was "besotted" with his wife.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Satchwell guilty of murder: Here's what the jury didn't hear
TRIAL MOVED TO DUBLIN Richard Satchwell's trial was initially scheduled to sit in his home county of Cork but, due to the "intense publicity" surrounding the case, his lawyers applied late last year to move the trial to the capital. The move was resisted by the State, who pointed out that much of the publicity was generated by Satchwell himself. In November last year Brendan Grehan SC, for Satchwell, said that as the media attention was concentrated in Cork, it would be "impossible to retain an impartial jury" there who had not heard of the case and formed "adverse views of Mr Satchwell". Mr Grehan said that most trials can be held in local venues but some generate media attention that can be "macabre" and lead to "greater hostility than it is possible to imagine in an ordinary case." Satchwell's preference, Mr Grehan said, was for the trial to be held in Limerick so it would be closer to the prison where he was being held. "He has a position of responsibility there, which enables him to be a productive prisoner," counsel told the court. Gerardine Small SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed the change of venue, arguing that publicity around the case was national, not local. File picture: Collins Courts Gerardine Small SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed the change of venue, arguing that publicity around the case was national, not local. Also, she said, much of that publicity was generated by Satchwell who "sought the attention of the media" by appearing on radio and television shows. Ms Small pointed to Satchwell's appearances on RTÉ's Prime Time, TV3's Ireland AM, the Ray D'Arcy Show and the numerous interviews he gave to journalists. She added: "It is an unusual factor that it [the media attention] can be attributed to the accused man while he was aware the body of his wife was buried where it was." Mr Justice Paul McDermott agreed to change the venue to Dublin, due to the significant risk of an unfair trial. He said: "The high degree of local coverage and engagement with the case takes it out of the ordinary." 'SOMEWHAT OF A SIDE SHOW: TWEETS AND CHARGINGS' During the trial and in the absence of the jury, Mr Grehan applied to exclude Satchwell's "cryptic" reply of "Guilty or not guilty, guilty" when he was formally charged with the murder of Tina on October 13, 2023. Counsel said a second part of the application - which was "somewhat of a side show" - was connected to the fact that a member of the press - Paul Byrne, formerly of Virgin Media News - tweeted that Satchwell was going to be charged before gardaí had actually done so. He said Superintendent Anne Marie Twomey had received directions from a legal officer at 7.28pm to charge Satchwell with the murder of his wife and he was formally charged at 8:07pm on October 13. Mr Grehan said Mr Byrne had tweeted at 8.03pm that "a man in his 50's had been charged with the murder of Tina Satchwell" - four minutes before his client was formally charged. Counsel said Michael O'Toole, of The Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star, had "retweeted" at 8.09pm from the handle @mickthehack that "Richard Satchwell had been charged with the murder of his wife". A number of gardaí who were called to give evidence in the voir dire denied that they had contacted anyone in the media but accepted that Mr Byrne had tweeted about it several minutes in advance and that Mr O'Toole had named Satchwell as being charged two minutes after it occurred. Mr Grehan said it was "implicit" that contact was made with a number of people in the media "to enable them to do their job". Counsel also submitted that Satchwell should have been informed that he could consult with his solicitor before the charging process took place and was entitled to legal advice "at this critical juncture". "It vitiated the process and the court should not permit the fruits of the charging to be now available to the prosecution," he added. Richard Satchwell's Senior council Brendan Grehan (left) and solicitor Eddie Burke. During the trial and in the absence of the jury, Mr Grehan applied to exclude Satchwell's 'cryptic' reply of 'Guilty or not guilty, guilty' when he was formally charged with the murder of Tina on October 13, 2023. Photo: Niall Carson/PA He said the defendant's solicitor Eddie Burke had left the garda station at 7.07pm that evening and didn't arrive back until 8.10pm - three minutes after the charging took place. The lawyer said his client's reply after caution was more prejudicial than probative and would create difficulties in terms of how the jury could be properly directed. In reply, Ms Small said Satchwell, who was interviewed by gardaí on 10 separate occasions, had a "full appreciation of his entitlement not to say anything" in reply to the caution and was acutely aware of this. The defence, she said, was claiming there is an entitlement to have a solicitor present on charging and she wasn't aware of any such entitlement. She said the entitlement was to legal advice, which Satchwell had received "in abundance". She called the media tweets "completely irrelevant". In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said the defendant's reply was fully voluntary and found that the absence of a solicitor in the garda station had not impaired the fairness of the process. He refused to exclude the reply to charge. DIRECTION TO REMOVE MURDER CHARGE FROM INDICTMENT When the prosecution's case was at an end, Mr Grehan applied to the judge to withdraw the charge of murder against his client, submitting there was no evidence of an intention to kill or cause serious injury, which he said was "a huge lacuna" in the State's case. "It is one of the elements of the offence of murder which the prosecution have to adduce evidence of, which they have singularly failed to do," he argued. He said Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster couldn't give a cause of death due to a very long post mortem period and had confirmed there were no broken bones in Tina's body. He said she wasn't able to conclude anything about the state of the organs due to the lapse of time. Mr Grehan said there was an explanation available to the jury as to how death was caused in the case without the evidence of the pathologist or anthropologist and that explanation was given by his client, where Satchwell said the belt of Tina's bathrobe had been held up against her neck until she collapsed. Counsel said this was the only account available as to what happened to Tina and was of "immense importance" as there was no evidence of violence discovered in the post mortem. Counsel said it was significant that Tina's hyoid bone was unfractured. He said there was also no medical evidence to say that his client's account of holding Tina off with a restraint against her neck before she collapsed suddenly was not possible. In a ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said Richard Satchwell's (pictured) immediate response was to create a false impression that Tina was alive and he had taken every conceivable step to protect himself. File photo: Brian Lawless/PA In reply, Ms Small submitted that there was "a wealth of evidence" from the surrounding circumstances in the case from which intent could be inferred. Counsel said the deception began on March 20, 2017, very shortly after Satchwell killed Tina and the plethora of lies were an acknowledgement of guilt. Ms Small said a limited post mortem examination was conducted because the defendant had buried his wife in a manner to ensure the cause of death wasn't available. She added: "There is also motive on his own account, Satchwell says she is threatening to leave him. She has wasted 28 years of her life, that is all part of the evidence for the jury to accept or not." Mr Grehan said the lies told were not sufficient to show intent for murder. Referring to motive, he said there was also clearly a basis for which Tina might have wanted nothing further to do with her husband and attacked him in that manner. In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell's immediate response was to create a false impression that Tina was alive and he had taken every conceivable step to protect himself. He said Satchwell told lie after lie "to any journalist who'd indulge him" and portrayed a scenario that his wife had deserted him suddenly without any explanation. Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell had shown a degree of malevolence towards his wife and the defendant was totally focused on protecting himself from discovery. There had been, he said, a period of six prolonged years before Tina's body, of which Satchwell had disposed of, was found and this was relevant to the issue of intention. He said it was a matter for the jury as to whether Satchwell had formed the requisite intent and whether he was guilty of his wife's murder. He rejected the application to withdraw the murder charge. APPLICATION TO DISCHARGE THE JURY At the very end of the trial, when Mr Justice McDermott had finished charging the jurors, Mr Grehan said on foot of instructions from his client he "regrettably" had to seek the discharge of the jury. Counsel voiced his opposition to the tone of the charge, which he said was intended to "nudge" the jurors towards a guilty verdict. Counsel said he became increasingly concerned as the charge proceeded that it was not resembling a charge but a "second prosecution speech" in terms of the emphasis the court was placing on the State's case to the detriment of the defence. Mr Grehan told the judge he had not put the defence case in full at all to the jury. He said the two separate tasks of directions on the law and a summary of the evidence had become "intermingled" and submitted there was no balance in what had been said to the panel. "The whole emphasis of what was said to the court seemed to be to reiterate the prosecution case," he argued. Richard Satchwell's Senior council Brendan Grehan (left) and solicitor Eddie Burke. Mr Grehan had sought the discharge of the jury on foot of instructions from his client. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Mr Grehan said the facts of the case "shouted and screamed for themselves" in terms of what Satchwell did and didn't do. "They are not facts that need to be nudged or pushed for the jury in any particular way". Counsel said it was beyond remedy at this stage and the court should discharge the jury. Ms Small called Mr Grehan's application "wholly inappropriate", describing the charge as balanced, fair and extremely comprehensible. "The criticism is unfounded, a court will rarely outline all the evidence, that is a matter for the jury". In his ruling, the judge said this was a difficult case in which to sum up the evidence for the jury and he didn't accept that his charge was "so wildly unbalanced". He disagreed that the absence of references to certain parts of the evidence in any sense justified the jury being discharged. Mr Justice McDermott refused the application but did give the jury further directions in relation to two matters of which complaints were made, one relating to the detailed evidence of Lorraine Howard concerning her half sister Tina, the other to evidence that Satchwell loved or was "besotted" with his wife. Read More How a concrete patch under the stairs in Youghal revealed Tina Satchwell's tragic fate
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
What the jury didn't hear during Satchwell murder trial
Richard Satchwell's trial was initially scheduled to sit in his home county of Cork but due to the "intense publicity" surrounding the case, his lawyers applied late last year to move the trial to the capital. The move was resisted by the State, who pointed out that much of the publicity was generated by Satchwell himself. In November last year, Brendan Grehan SC, for Satchwell, said that as the media attention was concentrated in Cork, it would be "impossible to retain an impartial jury" there who had not heard of the case and formed "adverse views of Mr Satchwell". Mr Grehan said that most trials can be held in local venues but some generate media attention that can be "macabre" and lead to "greater hostility than it is possible to imagine in an ordinary case." Satchwell's preference, Mr Grehan said, was for the trial to be held in Limerick so it would be closer to the prison where he was being held. "He has a position of responsibility there, which enables him to be a productive prisoner," counsel told the court. Gerardine Small SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed the change of venue, arguing that publicity around the case was national, not local. Also, she said, much of that publicity was generated by Satchwell who "sought the attention of the media" by appearing on radio and television shows. Ms Small pointed to Satchwell's appearances on RTÉ's 'Prime Time', TV3's 'Ireland AM', the Ray D'Arcy Show and the numerous interviews he gave to journalists. She added: "It is an unusual factor that it [the media attention] can be attributed to the accused man while he was aware the body of his wife was buried where it was." Mr Justice Paul McDermott agreed to change the venue to Dublin, due to the significant risk of an unfair trial. He said: "The high degree of local coverage and engagement with the case takes it out of the ordinary". Satchwell's 'cryptic' reply During the trial and in the absence of the jury, Mr Grehan applied to exclude Satchwell's "cryptic" reply of "Guilty or not guilty, guilty" when he was formally charged with the murder of 13 Tina on October 2023. Counsel said a second part of the application, which was "somewhat of a side show", was connected to the fact that a member of the press, Paul Byrne, formerly of Virgin Media News, tweeted that Satchwell was going to be charged before gardaí had actually done so. He said Superintendent Anne Marie Twomey had received directions from a legal officer at 7.28pm to charge Satchwell with the murder of his wife and he was formally charged at 8.07pm on 13 October. Mr Grehan said Mr Byrne had tweeted at 8.03pm that "a man in his 50's had been charged with the murder of Tina Satchwell" - four minutes before his client was formally charged. Counsel said Michael O'Toole, of The Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Star, had "retweeted" at 8.09pm from the handle @mickthehack that "Richard Satchwell had been charged with the murder of his wife". A number of gardaí who were called to give evidence in the voir dire denied that they had contacted anyone in the media but accepted that Mr Byrne had tweeted about it several minutes in advance and that Mr O'Toole had named Satchwell as being charged two minutes after it occurred. Mr Grehan said it was "implicit" that contact was made with a number of people in the media "to enable them to do their job". Counsel also submitted that Satchwell should have been informed that he could consult with his solicitor before the charging process took place and was entitled to legal advice "at this critical juncture". "It vitiated the process and the court should not permit the fruits of the charging to be now available to the prosecution," he added. He said the defendant's solicitor Eddie Burke had left the garda station at 7.07pm that evening and did not arrive back until 8.10pm, three minutes after the charging took place. The lawyer said his client's reply after caution was more prejudicial than probative and would create difficulties in terms of how the jury could be properly directed. In reply, Ms Small said Satchwell, who was interviewed by gardaí on ten separate occasions, had a "full appreciation of his entitlement not to say anything" in reply to the caution and was acutely aware of this. The defence, she said, was claiming there is an entitlement to have a solicitor present on charging and she wasn't aware of any such entitlement. She said the entitlement was to legal advice, which Satchwell had received "in abundance". She called the media tweets "completely irrelevant". In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said the defendant's reply was fully voluntary and found that the absence of a solicitor in the garda station had not impaired the fairness of the process. He refused to exclude the reply to charge. Defence asked judge to withdraw murder charge When the prosecution's case was at an end, Mr Grehan applied to the judge to withdraw the charge of murder against his client, submitting there was no evidence of an intention to kill or cause serious injury, which he said was "a huge lacuna" in the State's case. "It is one of the elements of the offence of murder which the prosecution have to adduce evidence of, which they have singularly failed to do," he argued. He said Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster couldn't give a cause of death due to a very long post-mortem period and had confirmed there were no broken bones in Tina's body. He said she wasn't able to conclude anything about the state of the organs due to the lapse of time. Mr Grehan said there was an explanation available to the jury as to how death was caused in the case without the evidence of the pathologist or anthropologist and that explanation was given by his client, where Satchwell said the belt of Tina's bathrobe had been held up against her neck until she collapsed. Counsel said this was the only account available as to what happened to Tina and was of "immense importance" as there was no evidence of violence discovered in the post-mortem. Counsel said it was significant that Tina's hyoid bone was unfractured. He said there was also no medical evidence to say that his client's account of holding Tina off with a restraint against her neck before she collapsed suddenly was not possible. In reply, Ms Small submitted that there was "a wealth of evidence" from the surrounding circumstances in the case from which intent could be inferred. Counsel said the deception began on 20 March 2017 very shortly after Satchwell killed Tina and the plethora of lies were an acknowledgement of guilt. Ms Small said a limited post-mortem examination was conducted because the defendant had buried his wife in a manner to ensure the cause of death wasn't available. She added: "There is also motive on his own account, Satchwell says she is threatening to leave him. She has wasted 28 years of her life, that is all part of the evidence for the jury to accept or not". Mr Grehan said the lies told were not sufficient to show intent for murder. Referring to motive, he said there was also clearly a basis for which Tina might have wanted nothing further to do with her husband and attacked him in that manner. In his ruling, Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell's immediate response was to create a false impression that Tina was alive and he had taken every conceivable step to protect himself. He said Satchwell told lie after lie "to any journalist who'd indulge him" and portrayed a scenario that his wife had deserted him suddenly without any explanation. Mr Justice McDermott said Satchwell had shown a degree of malevolence towards his wife and the defendant was totally focused on protecting himself from discovery. There had been, he said, a period of six prolonged years before Tina's body, of which Satchwell had disposed of, was found and this was relevant to the issue of intention. He said it was a matter for the jury as to whether Satchwell had formed the requisite intent and whether he was guilty of his wife's murder. He rejected the application to withdraw the murder charge. Counsel voiced opposition to tone of judge's charge to jury At the very end of the trial, when Mr Justice McDermott had finished charging the jurors, Mr Grehan said on foot of instructions from his client he "regrettably" had to seek the discharge of the jury. Counsel voiced his opposition to the tone of the charge, which he said was intended to "nudge" the jurors towards a guilty verdict. Counsel said he became increasingly concerned as the charge proceeded that it was not resembling a charge but a "second prosecution speech" in terms of the emphasis the court was placing on the State's case to the detriment of the defence. Mr Grehan told the judge he had not put the defence case in full at all to the jury. He said the two separate tasks of directions on the law and a summary of the evidence had become "intermingled" and submitted there was no balance in what had been said to the panel. "The whole emphasis of what was said to the court seemed to be to reiterate the prosecution case," he argued. Mr Grehan said the facts of the case "shouted and screamed for themselves" in terms of what Satchwell did and didn't do. "They are not facts that need to be nudged or pushed for the jury in any particular way," he said. Counsel said it was beyond remedy at this stage and the court should discharge the jury. Ms Small called Mr Grehan's application "wholly inappropriate", describing the charge as balanced, fair and extremely comprehensible. "The criticism is unfounded, a court will rarely outline all the evidence, that is a matter for the jury," she said. In his ruling, the judge said this was a difficult case in which to sum up the evidence for the jury and he did not accept that his charge was "so wildly unbalanced". He disagreed that the absence of references to certain parts of the evidence in any sense justified the jury being discharged. Mr Justice McDermott refused the application but did give the jury further directions in relation to two matters of which complaints were made, one relating to the detailed evidence of Lorraine Howard concerning her half sister Tina, the other to evidence that Satchwell loved or was "besotted" with his wife.
The Journal
19-05-2025
- The Journal
Gardaí deny Richard Satchwell was made to 'perp walk' after being charged with wife's murder
INVESTIGATING GARDAÍ HAVE denied that Richard Satchwell was made carry out a 'perp walk' after he was charged with murdering his wife Tina, with defence counsel putting it to a detective that his client was 'paraded before the press' while handcuffed. The trial also heard today that members of the press were able to tweet that Satchwell was going to be charged before gardaí had actually done so. In cross-examination, Brendan Grehan SC, defending, asked Detective Garda David Kelleher whether gardaí as a 'corporate entity' were 'overcompensating' for their initial failure in the investigation when Richard Satchwell was formally charged at Cashel Courthouse in October 2023 with Tina Satchwell's murder. Counsel said that the British truck driver was handcuffed to the front and 'marched' by five gardai into Cashel District Court, with the patrol car having pulled in quite a distance away from the courthouse. The Central Criminal Court has heard that on 24 March 2017, Richard Satchwell told gardaí that his wife Tina had left their home four days earlier but that he had no concerns over her welfare, feeling she had left due to a deterioration in their relationship. The accused formally reported Tina Satchwell missing the following May, but her body was not discovered for over six years, when gardaí in October 2023 conducting 'an invasive search' of the Satchwell's home found her decomposed remains in a grave that had been dug underneath the stairs. Det Gda Kelleher told Gerardine Small SC, prosecuting, today that he charged Richard Satchwell with the murder of his wife Tina at Cobh Garda Station on 13 October 2023. The detective said he then cautioned the accused for a second time. Det Gda Kelleher said Richard Satchwell had replied 'guilty or not guilty, guilty' to the charge. Under cross-examination, Det Gda Kelleher told Grehan that he could not recall explaining what the offence of murder was to the defendant in comparison to other forms of homicide, such as manslaughter. Det Gda Kelleher agreed with defence counsel that throughout the accused's second detention, Richard Satchwell admitted he had lied about Tina 'having simply disappeared' and told gardaí that his wife had died in the course of a struggle. The detective also agreed that the accused had never deviated from that position throughout his entire detention. Press 'advised' of charge He told Grehan that the defendant's solicitor Eddie Burke was not present when the accused was charged by gardaí with the murder of his wife. Asked whether Burke had left Cobh Garda Station shortly before 7pm on the evening of 13 October, the detective told Grehan he did not know this at the time. 'It would appear no one had contacted Mr Burke to tell him his client was being charged?' asked Grehan. The detective said he had not contacted Burke and also agreed no other gardaí had. 'Were you aware a number of members of the press were advised Mr Satchwell was going to be charged?' asked Grehan. 'At the time of charging I didn't know anything about that,' replied Det Gda Kelleher. 'But they were able to tweet about it before you charged him at 8.07pm?' pressed the barrister. The detective said he was aware that the press had 'tweeted' about the charging. The witness said he had placed handcuffs to the front of Richard Satchwell's body when he brought him to Cashel District Court in Co Tipperary the following day to be formally charged. 'Why was it necessary to handcuff him on this occasion when you didn't consider it necessary to handcuff him on two previous occasions?' asked Grehan. The detective said he thought it was necessary. Asked whether he knew what a 'perp walk' was and had he ever seen a person who had just been charged being paraded before the press, the detective told counsel that this 'certainly wasn't the case'. He said he had not charged anyone with murder before this event. Grehan asked the witness whether five gardaí had 'escorted' Richard Satchwell into Cashel Courthouse on 14 October. 'There could have been more as the media were there,' he replied. The lawyer asked the witness whether he recalled the garda car 'pulling in quite a distance away' from the courthouse, rather than at it. 'I've no control over where the car stopped,' he said. 'But you agree Mr Satchwell was then taken out of the car and marched with all the gardai around him up to court?' asked Grehan, which the detective agreed with. Tina Satchwell. Garda Press Office Garda Press Office 'There were full flanks of the media present, cameras and the like?' continued Grehan, which the detective also agreed with. Advertisement 'Overcompensating' Asked whether this was a 'perp walk', Det Gda Kelleher replied: 'Now I know what one is, I wouldn't have used that terminology'. Grehan asked the witness whether gardaí as a 'corporate entity' were 'overcompensating' for their failure in the investigation in 2017. The detective said he could only speak about his involvement in the investigation from 2021. Asked whether he had 'any view' about the search of Richard Satchwell's home on Grattan Street in 2017, the detective said it allowed him to build a foundation from 2017 'to work on material available to me at that time'. 'Did gardaí need a forensic archaeologist to tell them about whether most domestic homicides result in a body being buried?' asked Grehan. The detective said experts were consulted and they were invaluable. A forensic archaeologist has told the trial how she reported it was possible that Tina Satchwell had been killed at her house and her body concealed there, after her research found that the majority of victims in 'concealment' homicides are disposed of within one kilometre of their home address. Questioned by Grehan as to whether any expert was consulted in relation to what Richard Satchwell had told gardai about how Tina had died, the detective said there wasn't. Det Gda Kelleher agreed with counsel that Satchwell had stuck to his account as to how his wife had died, despite the efforts of gardaí, in the course of his interviews. 'He also told you that Lorraine Howard could verify some of what he had said about being assaulted by Tina Satchwell?' asked counsel. The detective said he was aware the accused had said that in his interviews with gardaí and agreed he had not been challenged. The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women. Richard Satchwell (58), with an address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 45-year-old wife Tina Satchwell – nee Dingivan – at that address between 19 and 20 March 2017, both dates inclusive. Doctor cross examined Earlier, now retired doctor Deirdre O'Grady told Grehan under cross examination that Tina Satchwell would have briefly attended her practice in the 1990′s. She said she was not the deceased's GP when she had disappeared. The witness told Grehan that she did not remember being called out by Richard Satchwell to the Satchwell's home in April 1993. She said she remembered Tina attending her practice but had no recollection of the deceased informing her about Richard Satchwell taking an overdose. She said she would have had it in her notes 'if something as serious as that' was brought to her attention. Grehan put it to the witness that his client said he had attended her surgery with scratches on his face. O'Grady said she had no medical notes of this, nor of the accused's attendance at her surgery, adding that she had kept 'excellent medical records throughout' her entire career. Grehan told the witness he would need to know when Tina had attended her surgery from the early 1990s up until 1999. He told O'Grady he would require her to return to court once she had checked her records. John Keohane told Small he had first met Tina at a car boot sale and said she was a very nice person, who was well dressed and wore expensive clothes. The witness said he met the couple at a car boot sale in Carrigtwohill on 19 March 2017. He said Tina showed him a beautiful jacket and told him: 'I have one man, one man only and I love him so much'. He also recalled Tina saying to him that she would never hurt Richard as she loved him so much. Keohane said he met Richard Satchwell the following week at another car boot sale, where the accused was selling Tina's clothes. He said Satchwell told him that his wife left him the previous night, took €25,000 from their attic and that he hadn't seen her since. He said the accused told him Tina was 'a street angel and house devil' and had hit him in the face and broken two of his teeth. Under cross-examination, Keohane told Grehan that Tina had 'an expensive eye' and would wear clothes for a while before selling them on again and buying some more. The witness said Tina had bought an expensive jacket and perfume when he remarked that she 'must be meeting a man tonight'. 'She said 'I wouldn't touch another man' – she had one man, one man only and 'loved him so much''. He agreed that when he met Richard Satchwell without his wife, the accused told him that Tina used to beat him. Garda Conor McCarthy said he was part of the search team at Grattan Street on 13 October 2023 and had found a chisel on top of a reusable shopping bag in the front bedroom on the first floor of the house. The red and black-handled chisel was shown to the jury. Describing the 'wood chisel' for the jury, Grehan said it had a sharp pointed top with chamfered sides and was used for making joints with woodwork, where one has to 'hack them out'. The witness told Grehan he didn't know whether the chisel was ever sent for forensic examination. Under cross-examination, Detective Garda Fergal Whelton told Grehan he had photographed the chisel on 13 October 2023.
