'Views on immigrants mustn't prejudice jury'

A JURY must not allow a murder accused's comments to gardai about “illegal immigrants” and “invaders” to prejudice their verdict, a barrister has said.

- BY EOIN REYNOLDS

Michael Bowman SC said his client, Mark Lee, 44, may have “objectionable and unsavoury” views but it is forbidden to allow such prejudice to “overwhelm the forensic process of sifting through the evidence”.

The prosecution, he said, has “bent over backwards” to tell the jury the accused must have known that the deceased was a foreigner.

Mr Bowman said there is no evidence Mr Lee or either of his co-accused said anything about foreigners before the assault.