This article is from page 85 of the 2008-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 85 JPG
SHARON Collins was interested in inheritance and often sought infor- mation on this on computer websites, according to the prosecution.
Prosecutor Tom O’Connell told the jury on the second day of the trial last Thursday, that Ms Collins ar- ranged a marriage to PJ Howard, but he did not go through with it.
“She was keen to get married to Mr Howard. She was very much
concerned with inheritance and fre- quently visited various websites in- terrogating the computer about her position,’ said Mr O’Connell.
He said that after Mr Howard’s wife died in 2003, Ms Collins was “anx- ious and agitating to get married to Mr Howard.
“It seems he didn’t wish to marry her as it would complicate inherit- ance matters. He wanted whatever fortunes he had to go to his two sons.”
“Apparently a marriage was. ar- ranged, at her instigation, to take place in Rome in 2005,” he said.
However, PJ Howard “pulled out” of this, but the couple went to Sor- rento in Italy, where they pledged themselves to each other, “but no marriage took place”.
When the couple returned home, Ms Collins told people that they had got married and a wedding reception took place in Spanish Point in No- vember 2005.
The same year, she “conceived and organised through the internet, a proxy marriage, under Mexican law, that was done without the knowledge of PJ Howard,” said counsel.
He said that Ms Collins paid $US1,295 for a certificate testify- ing to the proxy marriage. The cer- tificate was sent to her accountant in Kilrush, Matt Heslin, and she later collected it there.
On February 22, 2006, she trav- elled to Cork and in due course she
obtained a passport under the name of Sharon Howard.
“She admits obtaining the proxy marriage certificate,” said Mr O’Connell. “It is the State’s case that she intended to use the marriage cer- tificate to stake a claim in PJ’s estate on the death of him and his sons,’ he added.
“It could be inferred by using the documents, she was trying them out to see if they would pass official scrutiny,’ said Mr O’Connell.