A 23-year-old woman played “no act nor part” in the killing of a 66-year-old man whose body was found near the bottom of the Sliabh Liag cliffs in Co Donegal, a Central Criminal Court jury has heard.
Eoin Lawlor SC delivered his closing speech on behalf of his client, Nikita Burns, who told gardaí her co-accused, Alan Vial (39), delivered the blows that caused the death of Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin.
Mr Lawlor said Ms Burns was a “bystander to Mr Vial’s murder of Mr Wilkin”.
Counsel said his client accepts she assisted Mr Vial in cleaning blood from a car. For that, she has pleaded guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another person for an arrestable offence.
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Tackling the prosecution evidence, Mr Lawlor said blood found on Ms Burns’s leggings could have been transferred when she was cleaning the car. He said there was no evidence she had blood on her top.
He contended Mr Vial’s account, in which he described Ms Burns as having struck Mr Wilkin with a rock, was inconsistent with the evidence. He said Mr Vial was a “murderer telling lies”.
Mr Lawlor invited the jury to view CCTV of interactions between Mr Wilkin and Mr Vial on the night in various pubs and to consider evidence of prior aggression between them. He said Mr Vial had a “smouldering resentment” towards Mr Wilkin that “ultimately exploded”.
“In light of what you know of Mr Vial, it is easy to accept that he would and did take a rock and strike Mr Wilkin in the head six or seven times after pulling him into the back of the car and that he, ultimately, murdered Mr Wilkin,” counsel said.
[ Sliabh Liag murder trial: Man accused has heaped ‘lies upon lies’, jury hearsOpens in new window ]
Shane Costelloe SC, for Mr Vial, will deliver his closing speech to the jury of seven women and five men after Mr Lawlor. Mr Justice Paul McDermott will deliver his charge to the jury once closing speeches have finished.
Bernard Condon SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, previously told the jury Mr Vial and Ms Burns were acting together with the joint intention of causing serious harm to Mr Wilkin.
Mr Condon said all three were drinking together in pubs in Dunkineely before they headed towards Mr Vial’s home in a Volkswagen driven by Mr Wilkin.
For about 15 minutes, the car pulled in to an area known as Roshine, which is not on CCTV. This is where Mr Condon said Mr Wilkin was beaten with a rock before being driven to Sliabh Liag and put over the cliff “alive or dead”.
Mr Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal, and Ms Burns, of Carrick, Co Donegal, have both pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Wilkin in Donegal on June 25th, 2023.
