Jury Finds McArdle Guilty Of Manslaughter

The husband of Kelly-Anne Corcoran has been found guilty of the manslaughter of his wife while on holiday in Marbella in 2000.

The jury at Malaga's Criminal Court found the Dundalk man, Michael Dermot McArdle, 39, guilty of manslaughter.

McArdle had insisted throughout the trial that his wife tripped and plunged to her death as she rushed to stop one of their two young children from falling over the balcony.

He now faces a prison sentence of between one and four years.

The State Prosecutor, Carlos Yañez, who amended his initial request opting instead for a lesser manslaughter charge, dropped his original charge of murder on Friday.

Mr Yañez said he believed that the accused pushed Ms Corcoran during a heated argument at their Costa del Sol hotel room, on February 11th, 2000 and then tried to save her from falling to her death.

However, a parallel prosecution brought by the Corcoran family, many of whom were present once again in court today, had sought a murder conviction and a 15-year sentence for McArdle.

In court it emerged that McArdle had twice rejected an offer from the State Prosecutor to admit guilt in return for a downgrading of the murder charge. The second rejection came just hours before the trial began last week.

(DW)