Ms Justice Eileen Creedon told jurors they must bring a unanimous verdict unless circumstances arose in which a majority verdict would be accepted
The judge in the trial of a 50-year-old farmer accused of murdering his alleged "love rival" and dumping his body in an underground tank has begun her charge to the jury.
Ms Justice Creedon said an accused person was presumed innocent until proven guilty and that was a fundamental cornerstone of the criminal justice system. She told the jury the case did not have to be proved to the level of mathematical certainty, but they did have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge warned the jurors they could drawn inferences from the evidence, but must not speculate or fill in gaps in the evidence. She said the prosecution contended that the cumulative weight of the circumstantial evidence established that Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan and was inconsistent with any other possible rational explanation consistent with innocence.
She said if the cumulative weight of the evidence proved to their satisfaction, beyond reasonable doubt, that Mr Quirke had committed the crime, and if they came to the conclusion that to treat the matters as pure coincidence was an affront to common sense, they could convict.
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