Ruth Lawrence and boyfriend acted as 'tag team' to 'lure' drug dealer to their home, jury hears

Alison O'Riordan

Double murder accused Ruth Lawrence and her boyfriend acted as "a unit and a tag team" to "lure" a drug dealer to their home to murder him in a "highly calculated" crime, a prosecution barrister has told a jury.

Michael O'Higgins SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, today gave his closing speech in the Central Criminal Court trial, submitting that the "trail very quickly" led back to Ruth Lawrence and her South African boyfriend Neville van der Westhuizen, who enjoyed a "symbiotic relationship".

Counsel said Ms Lawrence had shot Mr O'Connor in the stomach intending to kill him but she had not acted alone and her boyfriend had "finished him off'. He described the accused's familiarity and comfort of "posturing with a gun" as "sinister".

The trial has heard that Ms Lawrence was extradited from South Africa to face trial in 2023, nearly a decade after the bodies of Anthony Keegan (33) and Eoin O'Connor (32) were found on a lake island in the midlands.

Ms Lawrence (46), who is originally from Clontarf in Dublin but with an address at Patricks Cottage, Ross, Mountnugent in Co Meath has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Keegan and Mr O'Connor at an unknown location within the State on a date between April 22nd, 2014, and May 26th, 2014, both dates inclusive.

Addressing the jury today, Michael O'Higgins SC with Jane Horgan-Jones BL, prosecuting, described the case as a "highly-detailed" one, where it is the State's contention that drug dealer Mr O'Connor was "lured" to Patricks Cottage for the purpose of murdering him.

Mr O'Higgins said it is unclear on the evidence whether Ms Lawrence and Mr van der Westhuizen were aware Mr Keegan was going to be with Mr O'Connor on April 22nd. "But whether or not they were aware, a plan was fine-tuned and he was murdered too".

Counsel said it is the prosecution's case that Ms Lawrence shot Mr O'Connor in the stomach intending to kill him. "She was not acting alone," counsel said. Mr O'Higgins said that Neville, who was also armed, was described by one of the witnesses as having finished Mr O'Connor off.

Mr O'Higgins said it appeared that Neville had "grappled" with Mr O'Connor, who was then shot in the head. He said the sequence of the two murders is unclear and it was far more likely that Mr Keegan was probably killed first when he was shot in the back of the head.

The trial has heard that two witnesses - father and daughter Jason and Stacey Symes - came forward to An Garda Siochana in 2014 and gave voluntary statements about the alleged involvement of Ms Lawrence and Mr van der Westhuizen in the murders of the two men.

Key witness Stacey Symes, who has the benefit of the "Witness Security Programme", gave evidence to the trial that Ms Lawrence told her that she had shot Mr O'Connor "but it went wrong", so her boyfriend Neville "took over". The witness also said that she and her father were asked to help move the bodies of the two men.

The prosecutor said today it is the State's case that the double murder was a joint enterprise. He added: "They act as a unit, a team and tag team. The actions of one is performed in the name of the other and both as a matter of law are equally liable for the outcome".

Mr O'Higgins said the trail very quickly led back to Neville and Ms Lawrence. He told the jurors it was clear that the steps taken to execute these crimes were "highly, highly calculated" and said the evidence suggested that the couple enjoyed a symbiotic relationship.

Going through the evidence in the trial, the barrister said witness Jason Symes got to know Neville when he [Jason Symes] bought a car from him maybe as far back as 2009.

He said Jason Symes and his daughter Stacey - who he called "low level drug dealers" - later met up with Neville and Ms Lawrence, when the accused introduced herself as a tattoo artist. He said a drug dealing relationship had grown out of this.

Counsel said Mr Symes, who described himself as a chronic alcoholic, had testified that he sold two ounces of 'cannabis weed' over a fortnight but didn't have the nerve for it.

Counsel told the jury that one phone was shared between the father and daughter for these transactions, which he submitted told them as much as they needed to know about the scale of the operation.

Mr O'Higgins said Ms Symes had given evidence that there were discussions in a Dublin pub about robbing Mr O'Connor's house which had drugs in it. He said the witness had said that a person identified in court only as Mr CD had wanted Mr O'Connor's drugs stolen for retribution.

Mr O'Higgins also referred to the Symes giving evidence about travelling to a house in Dublin where Neville was handed a bag. Ms Symes, he said, testified that she had heard a "clicking noise" and Neville saying "this is loaded".

He said Ms Symes also recalled that Neville later took the gun apart, cleaned it and showed it off.

The barrister drew the jury's attention to other evidence given by Ms Symes concerning Ms Lawrence showing her how to load bullets into a "little black gun" in her bedroom.

"With regards to the gun, Stacey said Ruth was driving around with the gun in her waist, was happy about it and enjoyed whatever it was doing for her."

Counsel said this showed the accused's familiarity and comfort with the process of going around armed with a gun. Clearly, he said, it was not for some pursuit of shooting tins or rabbits.

"It's sinister and is it a step along the way where an instance might arise where Ms Lawrence might have crossed the rubicon of posturing a gun to using a gun?".

The lawyer went on to tell the jury that Mr Symes had also seen Ms Lawrence carrying around a weapon, which he thought was a toy gun, and putting it down the back of her trousers.

Referring to Good Friday on April 18th, 2014, counsel said Ms Symes gave evidence that she saw "a brick of white" being taken out of the couple's car at Patricks Cottage.

"The prosecution contends that this is a follow up from the meeting in the pub in Dublin, where it was suggested that Mr O'Connor's drugs be stolen. The prosecution contends that the event described on Good Friday was a burglary and in that burglary, drugs were taken".

Mr O'Higgins noted that a "seminal thing" had happened on the night of Easter Monday April 21, when the couple's landlord was asked about getting hold of a boat for them.

"Is it a coincidence of a Monday night before two men are shot dead and their bodies put on Inchicup Island - 100 meters off the shore - that a boat is being sought?".

Referring to the phones in the case, counsel said there was a call between Mr O'Connor and Neville around 7.10pm on April 22 but thereafter no calls took place.

He indicated there must have been a specific meeting point mentioned in that 7.10pm call. He said it was the prosecution's case that both men were shot in a field not far from Patricks Cottage and that the bodies were moved to the island later that night.

The lawyer told the jury that Ms Symes had recalled in her evidence that she learnt Mr O'Connor was dead from the accused and Neville talking over each other.

He said Ms Symes remembered the accused woman saying she had shot Mr O'Connor but he twisted and it went wrong and that Neville took over and both boys ended up dead. "She said Ruth thought it was funny that the other fella said she would die for him as they were friends".

Counsel pointed to what he submitted was the reliable evidence in the case of the accused's direct involvement in the murders and the shooting of Mr O'Connor as relayed by Ms Symnes.

In summary, Mr O'Higgins referred to Ms Symes' testimony concerning the pathology about the shooting of Mr O'Connor in the stomach area, the twisting and headlock details and the description of the placement of the bodies. "How is all this information coming forward if it wasn't heard?" he asked the jury.

Counsel said the defence had called evidence that the accused had done "good things" in 2017; "a meals on wheels type set up". However, the lawyer said it was not disputed in 2013 that Ms Lawrence was living with Neville, who was a drug dealer of some input, and taking lots of cocaine.

"That is not at that time what you would describe as a person of good character and nothing of what was said in 2017 can mitigate that".

The defence called evidence last week from a South African pastor, who said the accused feared she would become a victim of human trafficking and had both stayed in and worked at women's refuges in two South African cities.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of four men and eight women.

In his opening address, Mr O'Higgins said the evidence will be that Mr O'Connor sold drugs to Neville van der Westhuizen, who owed the deceased man in the region of €70,000.

Mr O'Higgins told the jury the State would argue that Ms Lawrence shot drug dealer Mr O'Connor and worked "as a unit" with her boyfriend to kill him and Mr Keegan, with their bodies later found "bound in rope, tape and covered in tarpaulin" on Inchicup Island on Lough Sheelin.