Law « Thurles Information

Tipperary Farmer Patrick Quirke Found Guilty Of Murder

A jury, latter which began deliberating last Tuesday afternoon, after a 15-week trial; today has found 50-year-old farmer Mr Patrick Quirke, from Breanshamore, in Co Tipperary guilty of murdering his love rival.

Mr Quirke had denied the murder of 52-year old Mr Bobby Ryan, a quarry worker and a part-time DJ known as “Mr Moonlight”. The jury delivered its verdict after 20 hours and 39 minutes of deliberation.

Today, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon offered her deepest condolences to the Ryan family before sentencing Mr Quirke to life in prison.

Mr Ryan had disappeared on June 3rd 2011, after he had left widow Mrs Mary Lowry’s farm earlier on that morning, however the prosecution could not give an exact time or location of the killing and had failed to identify a murder weapon. The individual pieces of evidence when put together, nevertheless, appeared to weave a logical series of strands which would eventually communicate, to the jury, the guilt of the accused man.

Mr Quirke had been best friends with Mrs Lowry’s late husband, Mr Martin Lowry, latter who died in September 2007, and the jury would learn that he was also best man at Mr Quirke’s own wedding. After Mr Martin Lowry death, Mr Quirke had offered to his widow, his support on the farm, with their friendship eventually developing into a closer relationship. Following this relationship ending, Mr Quirke continued to gain access to Mrs Lowry’s farm, under a seven-year lease agreement.

Mr Ryan’s decomposed body had been located stripped naked; left in a run-off tank, covered with a concrete slab; before being discovered by the said Mr Quirke himself in 2013. A post-mortem examination later showed Mr Ryan had died from blunt force trauma. He had suffered multiple fractures to his skull and to his ribs and leg. An entomologist (insect expert) gave evidence in court that the body, which had been sealed in an airtight tank, had been subjected to a single insect infestation in the weeks prior to the accused man, Mr Patrick Quirke, informing Gardaí, that he had discovered a body.

The defence had argued that the case against Mr Quirke was based on theory and not on any hard evidence; it was, they believed, forensically barren and the investigation itself was less than the highest standards required. The defence had warned the jury against conviction, based on what same held as mere circumstantial evidence.

After closing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon had urged the jurors to look on the evidence submitted in the case, with a critical mind.

The Jury found Mr Patrick Quirke guilty today of the murder Mr Ryan by a ten to two majority verdict, at the Central Criminal Court, Dublin.

Tipperary Man In Legal War With Hewlett-Packard.

A Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary born technology entrepreneur, Mr Mike Lynch, stands accused of artificially inflating revenues at his UK software company ‘Autonomy’, before selling it on to the American multinational information technology company Hewlett Packard (HP) for a reported $11bn (€9.7bn); the California head-quartered firm’s lawyer has informed a London court.

HP is suing the companies founder Mr Mike Lynch and his finance director Mr Sushovan Hussain for over $5bn in damages, over their management of Autonomy, founded in the early 1990’s on the back of his University of Cambridge doctoral thesis.

Mr Lynch, who in 2006 was named a non-executive director of the BBC and awarded an OBE, strongly denies any wrongdoing, and stated that the contents of HP’s claim were “a simple rehash of previous leaks and insinuations that add up to one long disagreement over accounting treatment”.

In 2008 the technology used by Autonomy played a key role in tracking down the rogue Société Générale trader Jérôme Kerviel, latter a French trader who was convicted and imprisoned for the 2008 Société Générale trading loss, for breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized use of the bank’s computers, resulting in losses valued at €4.9 billion. Kerviel’s trial began on June 8th 2010 and on October 5th 2010, he was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison, with the last two years suspended.

HP have since written down the value of Autonomy by some $8.8bn, stating that serious accounting improprieties had been uncovered since their purchase. HP believed it had acquired a rapidly growing software company gaining market share, but it has since discovered that the contrary was the true case. HP now believe it overpaid the English based software group by some $5bn (£3.2bn).

London’s High Court case continues.

CAB Carry Out Money Laundering Searches In Tipperary.

The Criminal Assets Bureau has seized 115 cars, including Mercedes and BMWs, together with €43,000 in cash and £1,000 in sterling and a Rolex watch as part of their investigation into money laundering by a drugs gang in the mid-west region. A further bank account, with over €30,000 has also been frozen, under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act. Documentation in relation to the financing and ownership of assets, mobile phones and electronic storage devices have also been seized in eight searches.

The eight searches were carried out yesterday in counties Tipperary, Limerick and Dublin, with the motor vehicles removed from the forecourt of a car sales company in Limerick. Two car sales businesses, two private homes and four professional offices including those of Solicitors, Accountants and a Finance Company in Tipperary, Limerick and Dublin were also searched.

Member of An Garda Síochána Arrested

One member of An Garda Síochána, latter suspected of leaking confidential information regarding the ongoing CAB investigation to the criminal gang; together with a senior businessman linked to the motor trade, have also been arrested and are being questioned.

Gardaí Investigate How Thurles Infant Sustained Injuries

Gardaí here in Co. Tipperary are investigating the circumstances by which an infant sustained serious head injuries at a property close to Horse and Jockey, Thurles, on Thursday last.

The male infant was transferred to a Dublin hospital after being treated for his injuries, which are understood to have left him in a serious, yet stable condition.

Garda Investigation

While Tusla (The Child and Family Agency) have been notified, specialist officers are now investigating precisely how this child suffered his injuries at this property and are keeping an open mind with regards to their investigations. Same will be determined mainly by the findings by medical experts, now involved in his recovery treatment.

Tipperary Man Sentenced To Life In Prison

Mr Ross Outram, aged 28 years, from Ferryland, Waterford Road, Clonmel, in Co. Tipperary has today been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Waterford pensioner and retired dairy farmer Mr Paddy Lyons.
His 90-year-old victim had been found slumped in an armchair at his home near Lismore, Co Waterford two years ago and his murder was described by the prosecution earlier as a ‘vicious and sustained attack’ on a completely defenceless elderly man.

Verdict

It took a jury, of eight men and four women, just three-and-a-half hours, before returning a unanimous guilty verdict. Mr Justice Paul Coffey then thanked the jury for their care and ‘exemplary’ attention in what he stated was a ‘long and difficult case’. He also excused them from further jury duties for the next 15 years.

The prosecution contended that this was a most violent robbery; performed in the middle of the night by a young, strong 26-year-old man, against a 90-year-old friendly, trusting man, with a non-functioning arm, latter in receipt of ‘Home Help’. Mr Outram believed that Mr Lyons had cash in his possession and the former was going to relieve him of it.

Mr Outram informed Gardaí that he had consumed 100 Xanax tablets on that day, and that he was forced to fight back after Mr Lyons struck him with a walking stick and a shovel. Mr Outram did had injuries including marks on his hands, bruising to the inside of his thigh and he claimed he had lumps on his head. The trial heard that Mr Paddy Lyons was in fact restricted to limited use of his right arm and could only keep it in one position.

Mr Outram had denied murdering Mr Paddy Lyons at some time between February 23rd and February 26th of 2017, claiming self-defence. His victim had suffered multiple blows to the head and neck from a blunt weapon causing blunt force trauma to his body. The 90 year old suffered traumatic brain injury and shock, due to fractures of his hip joint, jawbone and ribs.

Following today’s verdict, lawyers for Mr Outram informed the court that the latter had apologises for having killed Mr Lyons and that he is “deeply remorseful”.