Patrick Quirke has lost an appeal over his conviction for the murder of Bobby ‘Mr Moonlight’ Ryan.
Quirke, a farmer from Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, claimed he didn’t get a fair trial, but the judges didn’t uphold any of his arguments.
Over the course of Quirke’s 71-day trial, half of which was taken up by legal argument, the jurors heard how he was the one who found Bobby ‘Mr Moonlight’ Ryan’s remains in an underground tank on Mary Lowry’s farm.
That was April 2013. By then, the local DJ had been missing for almost two years.
It was the prosecution’s case that Pat Quirke killed him in an effort to rekindle a relationship with Bobby’s partner, Mary Lowry.
He was found guilty of murder but appealed his conviction last year.
His lawyers raised issues with Ms Lowry’s testimony, the admissibility of other pieces of evidence, including an analysis of his computer.
The judge’s approach to certain decisions was also called into question.
However, each and every one of his 52 grounds of appeal were rejected today.
In its ruling, spanning over 100 pages, the court was satisfied that he did get a fair trial and that his conviction was safe and should stand.
