Claims by man accused of murdering his mother could be regarded as "bulls**t", lawyer says

Eoin Reynolds

A jury could regard as "bulls**t" the claims by a man accused of murdering his mother that he acted in self-defence or was provoked into a total loss of self-control when he caused her death by strangling or smothering her, a barrister has said.

Conor Devally SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the accused man, Nigel Canavan (39), initially told gardaí that he was not present when his mother, Angela Canavan (58), suffered the injuries that caused her death.

Two years later, he took the stand at his trial to claim that his mother provoked him into inflicting lethal violence on her.

Mr Devally said the accused later seemed to resile from the claim that he was provoked, suggesting instead that he acted in self-defence after his mother attacked him.

Mr Devally said the jury could conclude that everything Mr Canavan said was untrue and might reject his evidence as "bulls**t".

Desmond Dockery SC, for Mr Canavan, said there was a lot of evidence of the "love, care and affection" Nigel Canavan had for his mother.

He further reminded the jury that Mr Canavan told them in his direct evidence that during a heated row, his mother attacked him and told him she wished she had never had him.

Mr Dockery asked the jury to consider whether there is a reasonable possibility that those words caused a loss of self-control that was "so overwhelming that he could not help himself intending deadly injury and inflicting lethal violence."

Mr Canavan, with an address at Erris Gardens, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, has pleaded not guilty to his mother's murder at her home in St John's Terrace, Co Sligo on May 1st 2023.

Mr Canavan was staying with his mother after he separated from his wife.

The trial heard from State Pathologist Dr SallyAnne Collis that Ms Canavan had a laceration to the top of her head, rib fractures, stab wounds to each thigh and bruises to her face, neck, torso, arms and legs. She died from asphyxia due to strangulation and smothering, the pathologist said.

Mr Devally told the jury that to find Mr Canavan guilty of murder, they would have to be satisfied that he killed his mother and that he intended to kill or cause serious injury to her.

If he constricted his mother's airways for some minutes, he can be presumed to have intended her serious harm, Mr Devally said.

However, the defence has suggested that Ms Canavan so provoked her son that he suffered a total and immediate loss of self-control. If the jury finds he was so provoked, they would find him not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, Mr Devally said.

If he did "snap", Mr Devally asked whether that had less to do with his mother and more to do with his failed marriage, excessive drinking and the realisation that he was not the high-earning, successful person he "pretended" to be.

A finding that Mr Canavan acted in self-defence would require "mental gymnastics", Mr Devally said. Counsel reminded the jury that following his mother's death, Mr Canavan told paramedics, family, friends and gardaí that he was not in the room when his mother suffered the injuries that caused her death.

The pathology evidence contradicted Mr Canavan's statements, but he waited until his trial to suggest that he acted in self-defence or under provocation.

With regard to self-defence, Mr Devally said the deceased had a heart attack in 2012, required major heart surgery in 2017, suffered a brain injury from a fall in 2019 that restricted her mobility and had been an alcoholic for many years.

"Is she somebody who required restraint at all?" he asked. "Is she somebody who posed a threat at all?"

Given the pathology evidence that Mr Canavan prevented his mother from breathing "for a period of time", Mr Devally asked if self-defence is in the case.

Desmond Dockery SC, for Mr Canavan, said there was "a lot of evidence of the love, care and affection that Nigel had for his mother." He was her contact when she was admitted to psychiatric wards or went to addiction clinics on several occasions since 2013.

He was listed as her next of kin when she was admitted to hospital several times and took time off work to participate in group discussions with his mother at an addiction clinic.

He respected his mother and was the only one who kept regular contact with her, Mr Dockery said. There was further evidence that he helped her to pay rent, paid for her broadband, often stocked her fridge and nurtured a bond between her and his children.

"Is this a man who ever, ever, ever contemplated killing his own mother? I don't think so, at least not in his right mind."

Mr Dockery said it is understandable that when he spoke to gardaí, Mr Canavan didn't immediately own up to what he had done.

We would all like to think we would be frank "in the heat of the moment" and tell gardaí the truth, counsel said. "He didn't do that because he is human. He should have, but he didn't," Mr Dockery said.

Mr Dockery asked the jury to imagine the panic Mr Canavan felt when he realised his mother was dead. In an act of "gross stupidity and foolishness", he then agreed to be interviewed by gardaí without consulting a solicitor or speaking to his own family.

Less than two hours after he had first reported his mother's death, Mr Canavan made a statement to gardaí at Sligo Garda Station.

In that interview, Mr Canavan displayed "jaw-dropping naivety" by trying to disassociate himself from any responsibility, Mr Dockery said.

He then wed himself to that position, Mr Dockery suggested, having "stuck his head in the sand" because he couldn't confront what happened.

People tell lies "in extremis, when in trouble," counsel said. "I don't seek to justify it, but to recognise it as part of the human condition."

Mr Dockery asked the jury not to dismiss his client's court testimony. He reminded the jury that Mr Canavan testified that the row with his mother "erupted" because he challenged her for being drunk.

The jury heard that since acquiring a brain injury in 2019, Ms Canavan was prone to overreact. Mr Dockery suggested it is reasonably possible that Ms Canavan, whose blood alcohol level was seven times the legal limit for driving, went "straight to a reaction" and caused the row.

She was perhaps annoyed by her son's "hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness", given his own alcohol problems were developing "apace".

In Mr Canavan's account, the row continued until Ms Canavan "burst into a torrent of abuse", calling her son an alcoholic, bipolar and an abusive husband before picking up a stick to strike him.

Although she had mobility issues, Mr Dockery said CCTV footage from a local shop on the day of her death showed that Ms Canavan was a "sturdily built woman".

When Mr Canavan parried the blow and took the stick from his mother, he said she picked up a chair and smashed it on the kitchen floor.

He "extracted himself from this pressure cooker" by going upstairs, but returned to the kitchen to find broken glass on the floor.

In Mr Canavan's account, his mother remained "extremely agitated and resumed her verbal abuse," calling her son a "useless f**ker, a wife-beater and a drunk".

He described her picking up a steak knife and stabbing herself in each thigh before waving the knife at him, forcing him to protect his face and trunk. He said he defended himself by striking his mother with a piece of the chair she had broken earlier.

"Is it reasonably possible that he believed his life was in danger and that what he did next was in self-defence?" Mr Dockery asked. "If he honestly believed that he needed to defend himself, was his response proportionate to the threat he perceived?"

In his testimony, Mr Canavan described tackling his mother by grabbing both her wrists to wrestle the knife away, but she then came at him swinging her open hands and feet.

He said he pushed her onto the couch, using his body weight, and placing his hands and forearm on her neck.

Mr Dockery said Ms Canavan then told her son she was sorry she ever had him. "Think about that for a moment. Your mother saying that to you, in any circumstances, as an adult man. After all you've done together, all you've done for her."

Mr Dockery asked the jury to consider the reasonable possibility that those words caused a loss of self-control that was "so overwhelming that he could not help himself intending deadly injury and inflicting lethal violence."

Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo completed his charge to the jury of ten women and two men this afternoon, and they spent about 30 minutes considering their verdict.

The jury will return on Thursday.