Galway Bay fm newsroom - Closing speeches are underway in the trial of a Portumna farmer accused of murdering his aunt - in what the prosecution claims was "a desperate rage" in a row over land.
Michael Scott, of Gortanumera, claims he accidentally ran over Chrissie Treacy in a JCB teleporter on the 27th of April 2018.
Chrissie Treacy died from catastrophic crush injuries after Michael Scott reversed over her in a JCB teleporter in the yard outside her farmhouse.
In his closing speech, the prosecuting barrister, Dean Kelly SC, claimed it was wilful murder driven by a sense of entitlement and revenge over land.
Mr Scott insists it was a tragic farming accident.
He and his aunt shared 140 acres of prime farmland in Derryhiney. He farmed the whole lot but a lease arrangement was in place for her portion of the land.
If it was an accident, Mr Kelly suggested it was "extraordinarily unlucky" for Michael Scott that it happened as plans were afoot to formally partition the land.
He accused Mr Scott of telling "monstrous lies" and urged the jurors to convict him of murder.
The defence will deliver its closing speech this afternoon.
