Crime in newspapers

Task 1. Match the newspaper headlines with the articles A-C.

Montego Bay drug ‘mule’ jailed for 10 years

Killer showed great remorse, say gardai

My fear of murder accused made me lie: witness

 

A. By SUZANNE MacMANUS

A WITNESS in a murder trial told a jury in the Central Criminal Court yesterday that she lied to gardai because she was frightened of what the accused might do from behind bars.

In cross examination, Adrienne McGuiness told the court that she had agreed to be an alibi to the accused because she felt she had no choice.

“I was more afraid of him than the police,” she said. “I knew he wasn’t innocent. I still feared him even though he was behind bars. I don’t know what contacts he has outside, if he could send anyone after me or not.”

Joseph Delaney (54), formerly of La Rochelle, Naas, Co Kildare, has denied the murder of Mark Dwyer (23) on or about December 14, 1996.

He also denies falsely imprisoning Mr. Dwyer and detaining him against his will at Foster Terrace, Ballybough, Dublin on December 14, 1996.

ECSTACY THEFT

Prosecution allege that Mr. Delaney murdered Mark Dwyer over the theft of 30-40,000 ecstasy tablets.

Mr. Dwyer was found with a bullet wound to the head in a field in Dublin in the early hours of Saturday December 14, 1996, as well as having injuries to his forearms and upper torso.

Ms. McGuinness said she had lied to gardai in statements she made shortly after her arrest in December 1996.

“It took a long time for the truth to come out but I told it in the end,” she said. “I had it bottled up for so long, it was hard to say it. I was more afraid of Joe Delaney than the police, put it that way.”

“I kept looking at my car keys and I wanted to run but I thought if I made it to the door I’d probably have been dead as well,” she said. “He was calling all the shots, everyone just did what he said.”

In earlier statements to gardai, Ms. McGuinness claimed she had been having an affair with Delaney and had slept with him on the night Mark Dwyer was abducted and later shot.

Ms. McGuinness said that those comments were untrue, saying: “I can make that clear. I am not his lover, never was and never will be.”

‘FABRICATION’

Describing her testimony as a “fabrication”, defence counsel Blaise O’Carroll SC said to her that she had gone to the “ultimate lengths and sworn false testimony against Joe Delaney”.

“Joe Delaney is guilty,” Ms. McGuinness replied. “He shot Mark. He deserves a life sentence.”

Mr. O’Carroll put it to Ms. McGuinness that she was an “actress playing a very deadly game” and that she was “prepared to go to the ultimate limits playing the game and it didn’t work out the way you anticipated”.

“If I was an actress I’d be in Hollywood,” Ms. McGuinness said.

Ms. McGuinness said she had booked into a hotel with Delaney shortly after Mark Dwyer was murdered, because she had faced death threats from a man purporting to come from the INLA, over alleged drug pushing.

She said she had been given seven days to leave the country.

The case continues.

 

B. By BRIAN McLAUGHLIN

A JAMAICAN woman was yesterday jailed for 10 years for importing and possessing drugs.

Diane Cameron, of St. James, Montego Bay, pleaded guilty to the unlawful importation and possession of cocaine at Shannon airport on November 12.

When sentence was passed at Limerick Circuit Court, she collapsed and had to be carried from the chamber. Yesterday was her 33rd birthday.

She was also charged that on November 14, at Brookville Avenue, Limerick, she had the drug with intent to sell or supply.

The court heard the cocaine had a street value of £250.000.

Det Martin O'Sullivan said the drug squad had been targeting trafficking between Britain and Jamaica.

They were aware Cameron had arrived from Montego Bay via Florida and had booked into a guesthouse in Limerick city.

On November 14, armed with a search warrant, they found eight capsules of cocaine and Cameron handed over 43 more.

During questioning, she outlined how she met a man who asked her to carry drugs to Ireland for 150,000 Jamaican dollars which was worth between £10,000-£12,000.

The cocaine was to be collected from her and transported to England.

The court heard she was a personal fitness trainer and qualified in business studies. But her business wasn’t doing well and she had difficulty paying for her apartment.

She met a man at a party whom she believed was into drugs and he gave her loans to pay off her bills amounting to 40.000 dollars. He suggested she could make "some quick money".

After agreeing, she got more money and paid him back 20,000 dollars. She was given cash and a plane ticket and flew to the Bahamas with 70 capsules in her system.

The court heard she would be paid about 150,000 dollars for taking the cocaine to Ireland from Montego Bay. She was assured it would be "a piece of cake".

When arrested she had train tickets to Dublin and ferry tickets to England. She co-operated with the gardai and had no previous convictions. Brendan Nix, prosecuting, said Cameron was being used as a mule to transport the cocaine.

Defence counsel said she got in to debt and met this man who gave her money but then put the squeeze on.

Passing sentence, Judge Sean О'Laoire said: “Cocaine is a vicious and harmful drug that has brought extreme misery to those depending on it.”

He said drug barons operated a sys­tem in which they never got involved, but he did not accept the role of "mules" in trafficking could be minimised.

Leave to appeal was refused.

 

C. By NIAMH McPHELMY

A DUBLIN man who stabbed an Italian boxer to death with a steak knife has been remanded in custody for sentence by Judge Frank O’Donnell.

Sean Anthony ‘Tony’ Leahy (27), single, of Glenmoy Lawn, Mayfield, Cork, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Roberto Minotti (3l), Haroldville Ave­nue, Rialto. The sister of the deceased, Ms Anna Spaziani. and a friend, had flown in from Frosinone, Italy, to be present in court.

Ms Spaziani asked prosecuting counsel Isobel Kennedy BL, to tell Judge O'Donnell that she wanted “justice” for the death of her brother. Judge O'Donnell replied: “I will keep an open mind.”

Det Insp Declan Coburn told Ms Kennedy that Minotti had telephoned his girlfriend of five years, Anne Marie Leahy, on the evening of December 8, 1997, to arrange to visit their nine-month-old child at her place.

At that time Minotti was living away from Ms Leahy as they had sepa­rated for 10 days. When he arrived he sat in the sitting room with her, their baby, her mother and another friend.

Leahy arrived soon after and went to a back room of the house to play chess with a mutual friend. He then overheard a verbal argument between Minotti, his girlfriend and her mother concerning the couple's relationship.

He got a small steak knife from the kitchenette and placed it into his back pocket before returning to the living room where he told Minotti to “keep it down, there is a baby in the house”.

Minotti then took off his jacket and Leahy said: “You don't talk to my sister like that,” before he plunged the steak knife into Minotti's chest. Min­otti staggered backwards and fell onto his stomach face down on the floor.

Defence counsel Eamonn Leahy SC said the accused then fell on Minotti and cried: "What have I done, What have I done." He said Leahy then tried to take Minotti's pulse but his friend exclaimed. "I think he is dead."

An ambulance was called and he was pronounced dead at 8.30pm.

Det-Inspector Coburn agreed with defence counsel that afterwards Leahy became very upset, saying: “I didn't mean to do it. Oh my God, I never hoped this would happen.”

Mr. Leahy said that after the ambu­lance had left the house, Leahy set out to go to the garda station but his mother told him to wait in the house.

When the gardai approached the front door, he said: “It's me, I'm who you want.” Upset and in shock, he exclaimed, “I didn’t mean to stab him.”

Det Insp Coburn said Leahy had со-operated and made a full admission and showed deep remorse and regret for what he had done.

A post mortem examination determined that the cause of death was the stoppage of the heart due to the accumulation of blood around the heart.

Minotti was a well-known Italian boxer and accordion player for the Italian ambassador in his hometown of Lazio, outside Rome.

Leahy had no previous convictions. His parents separated when he was six years old and he was taken into care.

Judge O’Donnell remanded Leahy in custody for sentence on April 22 and ordered probation and psychological reports.

Appendix 26.