A man accused of murdering a pensioner whose body was found at the foot of Ireland’s tallest cliffs told gardaí that the discovery was ironic, as the deceased “always wanted to be buried at sea”.
The accused man Alan Vial (39) also told gardai that 66-year-old Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin’s body being found in the sea below the Sliabh Liag cliffs in Donegal was “a bit sad”.
Mr Vial denied that he battered Mr Wilkin’s head in with a rock or that he threw him off the cliffs, insisting that the deceased was alive and breathing when he left him, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Mr Vial told gardaí that he had little memory of what happened but recalled having a fight with Mr Wilkin.
He said his co-accused, Nikita Burns (23), had a rock but he couldn’t remember how Mr Wilkin suffered fractures to his head. “I just noticed that he had serious injuries to his skull,” Mr Vial said.
He told gardaí that the fight happened at Sliabh Liag near a viewing point over the sea in the early hours of the morning.
He described hitting Mr Wilkin on the nose with his palm, causing him to bleed all over the Volkswagen Passat they had been travelling in.
When the fight continued outside the car, he said he “winded” Mr Wilkin by striking him in the stomach and then placed the pensioner over a fence about four metres from the edge of the cliff.
Mr Vial said the 66-year-old was lying down winded but still breathing when he left but could have “rolled over the edge”.
Ms Burns of Carrick, and Mr Vial of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, both Co Donega,l have pleaded not guilty to the murder of 66-year-old Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin on June 25, 2023.
Mr Wilkin’s body was found eight days later in the water below the Sliabh Liag cliffs.
Garda officer Sgt Grainne McLoone told prosecution counsel Emmet Nolan BL, that Mr Vial was arrested on suspicion of murder on June 27, 2023 and interviewed at Ballyshannon Garda Station.
She agreed that Mr Vial told detectives he was driving around various parts of Donegal with Mr Wilkin and Ms Burns when they decided to go to Sliabh Liag at about 9.30pm.
He said he got out of the car, leaving Ms Burns with Mr Wilkin but when he returned to the car he heard Ms Burns crying “stop” and saw Mr Wilkin trying to take her top off.
He described a fight which ended with Mr Vial putting Mr Wilkin over the fence near the cliff and driving off. He said that Ms Burns “wasn’t involved in the altercation, she didn’t assault anyone”.
After some time, Mr Vial said he returned to the cliff to see if he could find Mr Wilkin but came to the conclusion that he must have walked to a nearby pub or to a friend’s house.
When CCTV contradicted Mr Vial’s timeline, he accepted that he had made mistakes but denied lying. He repeated that Mr Wilkin was breathing when he last saw him.
He described the discovery of Mr Wilkin’s body in the sea below the cliffs as “a bit sad”. He added: “Ironically, he always wanted to be buried at sea, he was a skipper of a boat at one stage.”
When it was put to him that Ms Burns had described Mr Vial “battering” Mr Wilkin he denied it.
In a later interview, he said he could recall Ms Burns striking Mr Wilkin but he said he didn’t know if she used an implement and couldn’t remember if she used a rock.
Gardai put it to Mr Vial that he killed Mr Wilkin and that Ms Burns helped. He denied killing him, said it “definitely” wasn’t an intentional murder and when asked if it was an accident, he replied: “It wasn’t my original intention.”
The trial continues.
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