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Date Posted: 08:17:22 11/03/04 Wed
Author: Rose Lismore
Subject: South belfast Pair cleared of murder

Pair cleared of murder
BBC NI 3rd Nov 2004

Mr Barr's home was cordoned off after his death in April 2003
A man and woman from Belfast have walked free from court after a murder charge against them was dropped.
Mark Hazard, 36, from Hatfield Street and Agnes McNally, 46, from Stanfield Place, both denied the murder of John Barr.

Mr Barr, 51, was beaten to death in a "violent and protracted attack" at his home in Hatfield Street off the Ormeau Road in April 2003.

The accused had previously been released on High Court bail.

'Reputation tarnished'

Last February, a judge was told at a hearing that the killer was probably the person whose DNA was found on a cigarette butt in Mr Barr's home.

Speaking outside Laganside Magistrates Court, Mr Hazard's solicitor Seamus Leonard said on Wednesday that his client had been a neighbour and a friend of the deceased.

He said: "His reputation has been tarnished, undoubtedly.

"He is from the lower Ormeau area, it is a tight-knit community. He was a good friend of the deceased and always strenuously denied his involvement.

Senior detectives

"He was always confident that he would be exonerated of blame but is critical of the PSNI decision to charge him in the first place," Mr Leonard said.

The solicitor claimed that the decision to charge Mr Hazard was "not fully supported by senior detectives" at the time.

He said: "This was a classic case, given the state of the evidence, where the alleged criminality of an accused ought to have been reported to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) instead of having him charged in a blaze of publicity."

The PSNI has not commented on the claims.

Ms McNally's solicitor said she was "very relieved that she has been vindicated".

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