Murder accused lied about sexual assault, court told

A man accused of the murder of Robert Wilkin has told the trial he lied to police when he previously claimed the 66-year-old had sexually assaulted his co-accused.

Alan Vial, 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, and Nikita Burns, 23, from An Charraig, County Donegal, both deny the murder of Robert Wilkin, who was also known as Robin, on 25 June 2023.

The body of the County Tyrone man was found eight days later in the sea at the foot of the Slieve League cliffs in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

Mr Vial told Dublin's Central Criminal Court on Tuesday that he and his co-accused Ms Burns had "came up with a bit of a story" about how Robert Wilkin had died.

Mr Vial accepted he lied in his interviews with gardai (Irish police) in 2023 when he claimed Mr Wilkin was breathing when both he and Ms Burns left him at the Slieve League cliffs.

He said he also lied about where the assault on Mr Wilkin happened and about the manner of his death.

Mr Vial told the court that it was his idea to suggest that Ms Burns was subjected to a sexual assault.

He did not accept a suggestion that he had told a "careful and artfully constructed series of lies" to construct a defence for beating Mr Wilkin to death with a rock.

The accused also rejected that he told lies about where the assault happened to disguise how much thought he had put into what to do with Mr Wilkin's body.

He also denied that he had come to a "considered response" that he would drive to Slieve League and put Mr Wilkin's body over the cliffs.

Previously, Mr Vial told the court on Monday that he was fighting with the deceased in a car between Killybegs and Slieve League following a day of heavy drinking.

He had said that Mr Wilkin punched him three to four times in the face before he grabbed Mr Wilkin by his wrists.

He had then said that was when Ms Burns appeared at the passenger front door and twice struck Mr Wilkin on the back of the head with a rock, causing him to stop breathing.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, Mr Vial still alleged Ms Burns struck Mr Wilkin twice with a rock, but said he could not be sure if she had delivered a third blow.

Mr Vial said he drove to Slieve League with Ms Burns in the passenger seat while Mr Wilkin lay with his legs over the centre console and the top half of his body in the back seat.

He denied striking Mr Wilkin with the rock or any weapon and said he did not ask her to strike Mr Wilkin.

Mr Vial also accepted that after putting Mr Wilkin over the cliff, he washed the deceased's blood from his clothes and hands.

He said he wanted to get rid of any evidence tying him to Mr Wilkin's death and that he threw the shirt he had been wearing "to the tide".

Mr Vial also accepted that he lied to gardai about what he had been wearing at the time of the night in question and he agreed that a blue shirt that was found by searchers at sea was the one he had discarded.

The jury had been expecting Mr Vial to be further cross-examined on CCTV footage of his movements on the day Mr Wilkin died, but Mr Justice Paul McDermott told the jury on Tuesday that a legal issue had arisen which will "delay matters somewhat".

The trial continues.