Earley acquitted of Sandra Collins murder

TRIAL OVER Martin Earley, who was accused of the murder of Sandra Collins, walked free from Castlebar Courthouse this afternoon. Pic: Keith Heneghan/Phocus

Martin Earley acquitted of Sandra Collins murder


Judge directs jury to make decision after 18-day trial at the Central Criminal Court in Castlebar

Anton McNulty

The man accused of the murder of missing Mayo woman Sandra Collins walked free from Castlebar Courthouse today (Thursday) after he was acquitted of her murder by direction of the judge.
Martin Earley (50) of Banagher, Carrowmore-Lacken, Ballina was acquitted of the murder after Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy ruled that there was not sufficient evidence for a jury to find him guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and directed the jury to find him not guilty.
Mr Earley was accused of murdering Sandra Collins, who went missing on December 4, 2000 after she was last seen leaving a take-away in Killala at approximately 11pm. Despite an extensive search of the area her body was never found and there were no sightings of her.
The trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Castlebar lasted for 18 days and heard evidence that Mr Earley was charged with her murder in December 2012.
Earley, a father of three, was interviewed a number of times by detectives investigating Ms Collins disappearance and after initially denying having had an affair with her, he admitted in 2001 to having had sex with her three days before she disappeared.
Ms Collins was pregnant at the time of her disappearance and the court heard that she talked to Mr Earley by phone on the day she disappeared and asked for £1,000 from him to have a termination. Mr Earley admitted to gardaí in March 2011 that he met Ms Collins at 7.30pm on the night of December 4 in the car park of a Centra supermarket but later retracted this statement as well as his earlier admittance he had sex with Ms Collins.
The trial heard evidence from Michael Granahan who claimed that Mr Earley revealed to him that he had an argument with Ms Collins at Killala pier and she stepped backwards into the water.
During the search for Ms Collins a pink fleece was found on the pier which was identified as hers while a pair of jeans was found in the water but was not positively identified as Ms Collins’.
Following the prosecution evidence, Mr MicheΡl O’Higgins, SC for Mr Earley, applied to the court to direct an acquittal on grounds that there was no evidence to suggest that the accused carried out any unlawful act on Ms Collins to convict her of murder.
Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley, SC for the State, argued that Mr Earley had lied constantly to gardaí and there was motive established in the evidence which was strong enough for a jury to convict.
While Mr Justice Mc Carthy said there was evidence to raise ‘serious suspicion’ against Mr Earley, the prosecution had to prove their case beyond all reasonable doubt. The judge added he was of the view a jury could not come to this conclusion to convict the accused.
He directed the foreman of the jury to acquit Mr Earley of the murder.
Members of the Collins family sobbed at the announcement while Mr Earley wept and was embraced by members of his family.