This article is from page 49 of the 2007-11-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 49 JPG
THE book of evidence in the case of two people charged with conspiracy to murder will be ready on Friday, despite a large portion of the docu- ment being accidentally deleted from a computer in the State solicitor’s of- fice in Ennis.
Essam Eid, a native of Egypt with an address in Nevada, US, is charged with conspiring along with Sha- ron Collins (44) of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, to murder Ennis brothers Robert and Niall Howard in 2006.
Mr Eid is also facing four fur- ther charges including demanding €100,000 from Ennis businessman PJ Howard to cancel a contract on the lives of Mr Howard and his two Sons.
He is also charged with burglary at
Westgate Business Park, Ennis, and handling stolen computers at Bal- laghboy, Doora and the Two Mile Inn Hotel, Limerick in September pau eToys
At Ennis District Court last Fri- day week, State Solicitor for Clare, Martin Linnane said a large portion of the book of evidence in the case had been lost on a computer in his office.
In court last Friday, Mr Linnane sought to clarify media reports that the material was lost as a result of the technical problem with the compu- ter. He stated that it had been deleted from the computer in error.
Mr Linnane also told Judge Joseph Mangan that there are 152 witnesses in the book of evidence and more may be added. He said he would have the book by next Friday.
Defending solicitor for Mr Eid, John Casey, however asked Judge Joseph Mangan to mark the matter peremptory against the State if the Book is not available on Friday. The Judge declined to do so.
Mr Eid was remanded in custody until later this week, while Ms Col- lins was released on continuing bail until the same date.