Mr Patrick Quirke from Breanshamore, in Co. Tipperary will learn, possibly on Tuesday next, whether his appeal regarding his conviction for murder has been successful.
The 52-year-old Mr Quirke has spent the past two years in Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, County Laois, where he is serving a life sentence for the murder of lorry driver and part-time Disc Jockey, Mr Bobby Ryan, in or about June 3rd 2011, at an unknown location. His guilt had been decided by a 10 – 2 jury verdict, following a 15-week trial.
It has been more than one year since Mr Quirke’s appeal against the court’s decision regarding the infamous love-rival killing in Co. Tipperary was first lodged. The Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with some 52 submissions of appeal by Mr Quirke, led to the unprecedented delay in the appeal case. However, it is understood that both defence and prosecution counsel were informed, on Wednesday last, that a judgment would be delivered early next week. If successful in his appeal, Mr Quirke’s conviction for the murder of Mr Ryan, will now be overturned.
The trial of Mr Quirke, in 2019 was the longest in the history of the Irish State, with the victim missing for some 22 months, before his body was eventually found in a disused run-off tank on Ms Mary Lowry’s land at Fawnagown, Co Tipperary, in April 2013.
Issues during the trial were raised about how Gardaí had handled the discovery of Mr Ryan’s body, with the court hearing details of how part of a concrete capping slab fell into the tank, possibly causing damage to the body of deceased in the process.
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