Jury to continue deliberating in trial of woman accused of murdering former lover

The jury at the Central Criminal Court continues deliberating in the trial of a woman charged with murdering her former lover. Nicola Brennan, aged 33, denies the murder of Juris Viktorovs, a 36-year-old Latvian national, at Ballyconnell, County Cavan, on 10 February 2022. The jury of eight men and four women has spent five hours and ten minutes in deliberation across two days, beginning Thursday afternoon. They are scheduled to resume Monday morning at 10am. The prosecution's case rests primarily on eyewitness testimony and forensic evidence, while the defence has challenged the reliability of the witness account and urged the jury to consider inconsistencies in the evidence presented. Mr Justice Paul McDermott has directed the jury that the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, and that murder requires proof of both the infliction of the fatal wound and intent to kill or cause serious harm.