Galway Bay fm newsroom – The barrister for a Portumna farmer on trial for his aunt’s murder has urged the jury not to approach the case as if his client is a “monstrous person.”

Michael Scott, of Gortanumera, denies the murder charge, claiming he accidentally ran over her in a JCB teleporter on the 27th of April 2018.

The Prosecution and Defence teams have been making closing speeches in the Portumna murder trial

In his closing address, Michael Scott’s barrister, Paul Greene SC, told the jurors they might think his client is an “unlikeable person,” but he said it was their duty to approach the evidence coldly and without fear or favour.

To convict, he said they must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Scott intended to kill or cause serious harm to his aunt, Chrissie Treacy, when he reversed over her in the yard outside her farmhouse.

“What’s really important is what he was thinking at that moment in time,” he said before suggesting the defence’s case that it was an accident was more persuasive.

Earlier, the prosecuting barrister, Dean Kelly SC, suggested what he did was a “deliberate act of murder” driven by a sense of entitlement and revenge over land they shared at Derryhiney in Portumna.

He also suggested the accused told lies about the state of his relationship with his aunt.

The judge will begin her address to the jurors tomorrow.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A planning application is due to be lodged in May for a New Community Nursing Unit for Clifden.

Local Fine Gael Councillor Eileen Mannion has welcomed the confirmation for the proposed new 40 bed unit.

The project will be based on the grounds of St. Anne’s CNU and will involve the amalgamation of services provided at Clifden District Hospital and St.Anne’s Community Nursing Home.

Funding of €9.6 million for the new unit was announced in 2016.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Members of the public are invited to attend a mental health event taking place in Tuam tomorrow (22/03)

The free event is especially geared toward helping tackle mental health stigma and discrimination among women

National programme, See Change, has partnered with West Be Well, to host the ‘Let’s Talk Mental Health Judgement’ event.

It’s taking place from 11AM-1PM tomorrow at The Ard Rí Hotel in Tuam, with registration available on eventbrite.ie