By Eoin Reynolds
A barrister has described a murder accused as a “cynical liar” who is attempting to make fools of a jury by claiming that he did not lay a finger on 66-year-old Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin, whose head was beaten in with a rock before his body was “unceremoniously deposited into the Atlantic Ocean” at Ireland’s tallest cliffs.
Bernard Condon SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said Alan Vial (39) had heaped “lies upon lies” during 20 hours of garda interviews.
Mr Vial then got into the box at the Central Criminal Court and “in an attempt to pull the wool over your eyes, to make fools of you,” he claimed that his co-accused Nikita Burns (23) had delivered the fatal blows that caused Mr Wilkin’s death, counsel said.
Mr Condon described Mr Vial as a “devious, calculated, cynical liar” who, after his lies to gardaí had been exposed, manufactured a story to fit in with the book of evidence. Mr Condon suggested that Mr Vial has told about 80 per cent of the truth but added: “What he is not prepared to do is to accept he did anything, that he lifted a finger.”
Mr Condon said the accused man’s claims were “absurd and ridiculous” and questioned why he had spent 20 hours lying to gardaí if he hadn’t “laid a finger” on Mr Wilkin.
Counsel told the jury that the prosecution alleges that both Mr Vial and Ms Burns were acting together with the joint intention of causing serious harm to Mr Wilkin. All three were drinking together in pubs in Dunkineely before they headed towards Mr Vial’s home in a Volkswagen driven by Mr Wilkin.
In an area known as Roshine, the car pulled in and was not seen by CCTV for about 15 minutes. This is where Mr Condon said Mr Wilkin was beaten with a rock before being driven to Sliabh Liag and put over the cliff “alive or dead”.
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns.
The evidence against Ms Burns, counsel said, is the “clearest possible case of murder” because of words that came from her own mouth.
Mr Condon reminded the jury that two witnesses had given uncontested evidence of hearing Ms Burns admit to using a rock to “batter” a man’s face.
A third witness had made a recording of Ms Burns describing how she used a rock during a fight and saying “we threw him” off Sliabh Liag. What was clear from the recording, Mr Condon said, was that Ms Burns showed no remorse and didn’t think she would be caught because she didn’t believe the body would be found.
Her accounts were “completely voluntary”, Mr Condon said, and contradicted her later claim to gardai that she did not move from the passenger seat of the car while the assault on Mr Wilkin was happening and when he was being put over the cliff.
Mr Condon said the prosecution case in regard to both accused is supported by DNA, CCTV, blood spatter analysis and the self-serving lies told by each of the accused.
At Sliabh Liag, where Mr Condon said Mr Wilkin was “unceremoniously deposited into the Atlantic Ocean”, gardaí found Mr Wilkin’s watch, neck chain, glasses and the rock used to beat his head. Halfway down the cliff they also found Mr Wilkin’s jumper and a blanket, both stained with Mr Wilkin’s blood.
This was, Mr Condon said: “Consistent with the disposal of evidence for the purposes of covering up murder.”
Mr Vial then drove to nearby Teelin Pier where he got into the sea to wash the blood from his hands and clothes. Mr Condon said the accused did not take that “extraordinary” step because he had innocently assisted Ms Burns. “That was a very calculated decision by someone who was going to stop at little to avoid leaving any trace behind,” he said.
Mr Condon also reminded the jury that Mr Vial and Ms Burns twice returned to Sliabh Liag in the hours that followed to check if anyone had seen the body.
“That’s the level of extraordinary lack of morality that you are dealing with,” Mr Condon said. Rather than give thought to another human being, they had returned “to make sure it was done, that they would get away with it,” he said.
They also travelled to Mr Vial’s brother’s home where they attempted to clean Mr Wilkin’s blood from the car.
Mr Condon said both Mr Vial and Ms Burns were involved in the killing and in putting Mr Wilkin over the cliffs. He added: “Both are guilty of murder and I invite you to convict them both of murder.”
Mr Vial (39) of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal and Ms Burns (23) of Carrick, Co Donegal, who have both pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin in Donegal on June 25, 2023.
Barristers for Mr Vial and Ms Burns will deliver their closing speeches tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott delivers his charge to the jury of seven women and five men.
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