Mr Moonlight appeal involves over 5,500 pages of transcripts
PATRICK QUIRKE’S appeal against his 2019 conviction for the murder of Bobby ‘Mr Moonlight’ Ryan has involved the preparation of 5,500 pages of transcript from the trial, the President of the Court of Appeal has heard.
Mr Justice George Birmingham said the court had yet to receive a hard copy of documents from the Director of Public Prosecutions but that the court would probably receive them during the day.
“It’s less than ideal and I can’t say with certainty that it’s still all systems go,” he said.
Regarding the request for four days being set aside, Ms Justice Birmingham said: “Having started reading I now have a clear sense why such a lengthy period has been requested.”
Mr Justice Birmingham said three days had been set aside from Tuesday of next week to hear the appeal and a further day could also be made available at a future date.
Mr Michael Bowman SC, for the State, apologised for the delay in providing a hard copy and added that “5,500 pages of transcript” from the trial was involved in the preparation of the hearing, as well as a summary of witness testimony from Mary Lowry.
Ms Lowry was in a relationship with Mr Ryan at the time he disappeared and was previously in a relationship with Quirke.
Bernard Condon, for Quirke said that he would talk to Mr Bowman to see if the appeal could be done inside the three days, adding that they would know better on Tuesday.
Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, had denied murdering Bobby Ryan (52), a parttime DJ who performed under the stage name ‘Mr Moonlight’, who went missing on June 3, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Ms Lowry’s house at about 6.30am.
The body of Mr Ryan was subsequently discovered in an underground run-off tank on the farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by Quirke at Fawnagown in April 2013.
It was the prosecution’s case that Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so he could rekindle a love affair with Ms Lowry and that he subsequently “staged” the discovery of the DJ’s body after Ms Lowry tried to terminate his lease at Fawnagown.
Quirke’s lawyers contended that the prosecution had failed to prove their case beyond mere suspicion.
They pointed to “inconsistencies” in Ms Lowry’s evidence, and claimed she was “not a reliable witness”.
A jury at the Central Criminal Court found Quirke guilty of Mr Ryan’s murder by a 10-2 majority verdict after deliberating for almost 21 hours following a trial that lasted 13 weeks in early 2019.
The farmer was given a mandatory life sentence by Ms Justice Eileen Creedon.