Catherine Nevin has lost her appeal against the conviction for the murder of her husband Tom at their pub, Jack White's Inn, in Co Wicklow almost seven years ago.
The three-judge Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday dismissed all of Nevin's grounds of appeal. It concluded she had received "an exceptionally fair trial in very difficult circumstances" and that it was "impeccably conducted" by Ms Justice Carroll.
Afterwards, members of Mr Nevin's family - his brothers Patrick, William, Noel and Sean, and sisters Mary Glennon, Nora Finnerty and Margaret Neville - said in a short statement issued through Kennedy Fitzgerald Solicitors, that the judgment "has brought us some element of closure as regards our brother's death".
"We believe that justice has been done. We will not be making any further comment in relation to this matter at this time."
The 60-page judgment on the four-day appeal was handed down, as is normal practice in the Court of Criminal Appeal, and not read out. Mr Justice Geoghegan, sitting with Mr Justice Quirke and Mr Justice Peart, merely stated that the court was refusing the appeal and copies of the judgment were immediately made available.
The case will be mentioned again on April 8th. Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, for Nevin, indicated he will ask the Court of Criminal Appeal then to set a date for hearing an application to certify that a legal point in the case is of such exceptional public importance that it should be referred for determination by the Supreme Court.
If no point of law is certified, that brings to a close Nevin's legal battle for freedom and clears the way for High Court proceedings to decide whether she is entitled to any proceeds from the sale of Mr Nevin's estate.
Jack White's Inn was jointly owned by the Nevins and was sold by Catherine Nevin in November 1997 for £620,000. Mr Nevin's late mother Nora subsequently took proceedings challenging that sale and seeking a declaration that Catherine Nevin is not entitled to any share in the pub.
Nevin (52) was jailed for life in April 2000 for the murder of her husband at the pub in Brittas Bay on March 19th, 1996. Mr Nevin was shot dead.
She also received a total of seven years' imprisonment on three counts of soliciting three different men to kill her husband in 1989 and 1990.
