A senior garda has told Patrick Quirke’s murder trial that Bobby Ryan’s remains were not damaged by debris falling into the tank he was found in.
He was giving evidence in the trial of the 50-year-old farmer from Breanshamore, Co Tipperary who denies murdering the local DJ.
The prosecution claims Patrick Quirke murdered his love rival Bobby Ryan sometime between June 3rd 2011 and April 30th 2013 in the hope of rekindling an affair he had with the local DJ’s girlfriend Mary Lowry.
Mr Quirke was the one who found his remains in an underground tank on her land almost two years after he went missing.
The prosecution claims it was a “carefully managed, orchestrated and staged” discovery.
The jury has already heard that a concrete slab broke as gardaí prepared to remove Mr Ryan’s body from the tank.
Today, Chief Superintendent Dominic Hayes said no damage was caused by what he described as “only small debris” that fell on the body below.
After initially saying the slab was “obviously” going to break, he said it wasn't “obvious, but they had to accept it was a possibility” and there was no other means of getting into the pit.
Chief Superintendent Hayes also said he was the one who sought the presence of someone from the Office of the State Pathologist at the scene.
The court heard he spoke to former Deputy State Pathologist Dr Khalid Jaber, who didn't attend the scene.
