Jury members in murder trial agree to sit for two months more due to delays

By Eoin Reynolds

The jury hearing the trial of a man accused of shooting another man dead at Bray Boxing Club has agreed to sit two months beyond the originally scheduled end-date.

The trial of Gerard Cervi (34) had initially been expected to take eight weeks, ending last week.

Having already lost two jurors when the end-date was put back to September, Mr Justice Michael White yesterday  asked the remaining seven women and three men if they could stay on until October 22.

Nine of the jurors agreed to the extension yesterday and today the jury foreman said the tenth juror had rearranged family commitments and is able to continue.

Mr Justice White thanked all the remaining jurors for their patience and told them that legal argument is continuing in their absence this week so they will not be required again until Monday.

The court has heard 27 days of legal argument in the jury's absence since the trial began on June 29.

The judge has previously apologised to the jury for the "very bad underestimation" of how long the trial would take. 

Mr Cervi, from the East Wall area in Dublin 3, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Bobby Messett (50) at Bray Boxing Club, Bray Harbour, Bray, Co Wicklow on June 5, 2018.

He also denies the attempted murder of boxing trainer Peter Taylor and Ian Britton on the same date and location.