MURDER IN IRELAND

Shannon News, 20 August 1926, Page 1

MURDER IN IRELAND

ASSASSINATION FOR £3O. SEQUEL TO CATTLE RAID. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH. Found guilty at the Centi'al Criminal Court, Dublin, a few weeks ago, of the murder of John Smith, sen., at Townparks, Ardee, County Louth, on February 27, 1 ! 924, James Myles was sentenced to death. Mr Carrigan, K.C., for the State, said tho accused and a man named McKeever were originally charged with the murder of an old man, John Smith, and of his son, * also nfimed John Smith, while the police in Louth were endeavouring .to bring to justice men connected, with tho outrages. Myles elected to give an account of a series of outrages in which, ho said, he and McKeever and a man named Boyle took part. There had happened, in Louth what happened in various parts of the country. Greedy wretches took advantage of the country’s troubles for base and mercenary ends to hire creatures to steal and dispose of cattle. A lot of cattle were taken from a farm belonging to Mrs Singleton, and a notice appeared offering/a reward of £lO for the discovery of the robbers. The Smiths lived in close proximity to the farm and on the morning the reward notice appeared young Smith •was seen' to go to the' police barracks. ' ' “Politics and Madness.” Boyle, said counsel, would tell the jury that Myles and McKeever proposed to him ' that he should join them in the : murder of the two Smiths, at the instance of the men who were, in jeopardy for the cattle ' stealing,- and who . were prepared to pay for the removal of the Smiths. A sum of £2O was mentioned. Two days afterwards the deed was done. He was sure the first impulse of the jury would be to disbelieve that a double assassination could take place for £2O or £30., but to the horror of. , everybody, whoso minds tvero not saturated with what were called politics and madness, these two men were murdered. Boyle refused to have 1 anything to do with the ‘murders. Francis Boyle gave evidence that Myles, Luke McKeever and ho, were brought together by' politics toward the end of 1921. /McKeever told him in February, 1924, that they were going in a ‘‘stunt” to shoot a man called Smith, that there was good pay for doing it. Last March in Dundalk Prison, Myles said to the witness: ' “You know all about the shooting of the Smiths. You know it was me and MceKever who did it, but if you tell, myself and' McKeever will be hung. If you. keep your mouth shut during the time you afe in gaol, McCardie and Moore will spare no money on you. When. you come out they, will pay your passage to' America.” .Myles also said he made £3O over the murder. The prisoner, in the witness box, declared he knew absolutely nothing of the murders. He said that while under arrest he mads'a. Tying statement to the police against McKeever, as he thought McKeever would make a lying statement against him. a Judge Censures the Police. .When Mr Carrigan produced a. statement, in which the accused S gave an account of his movements on the night of the murder, the Judge remarked that this statement had obviously been kept ■ back, and had this'man not gone into the witness box the Statement would not have been brought before the jury. Pie could not but censure that conduct on the ] art of the police. It was monstrous that the* police should decide what statements they were to keep back and what they were to produce. The accused was taken through his alleged confession by Mr 'Carrigan, who said: “You described how you were present at Ihe shooting and that McKeever fired both shots. That is very clever of you to make yourself less guilty than McKeever.” The witness: There is no truth in it whatever. An application for leave to appeal against the death sentence was refused. " ,