The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in Dublin has finished its first day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
They’ve to decide whether Kosovo born Vesel Jahiri stabbed Anna Finnegan to death at her home in Clonsilla in September 2012.
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On Friday, Vesel Jahiri was removed from court for punching the prosecuting barrister in the face. The trial resumed today in his absence.
At the beginning of his closing address to the jurors, Mr. Justice Paul Coffey told them to put that out of their minds during their deliberations. He said it had no evidential value in the case.
It is the prosecution’s case that Mr. Jahiri murdered Anna Finnegan after bursting into her home on September 21st 2012.
The 35-year-old is also accused of assault causing harm to her brother Karl.
He admits stabbing Karl but claims he was acting in self defence when he came at him with two knives.
He suggested it was Karl who accidentally stabbed his sister when she intervened, but he accepts he didn't actually see that happen.
The jurors have three verdicts open to them: not guilty, guilty of murder or not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
They’ll resume their deliberations tomorrow.
