A man accused of murdering his wife gave a friend a different account of the night she went missing to the one he gave gardai, a court heard yesterday.

Meg Walsh's body was recovered from the River Suir on October 15, 2006, after she had been missing for two weeks. She died from blunt force trauma to the head. Her husband, bus driver John O'Brien (41) of Ballinakill Downs, Co Waterford denies murdering her.

Kevin Barry told the court that he knew Mr O'Brien for over a decade and worked with him as a bus driver. He also knew Ms Walsh (35), and had both their mobile numbers.

He spoke to Mr O'Brien on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 after hearing his wife was missing.

"There were rumours going round that the gardai were after questioning him about Meg," he told the court.

Mr Barry asked Mr O'Brien for his side of the story.

Mr O'Brien had told gardai that he and Meg were socialising at Waterford's Woodlands Hotel, on Saturday, September 30. They stayed drinking late, then returned home with a mutual friend, Owen Walsh.

Mr Walsh previously told the court that Mr O'Brien ordered him out of the house after he caught Mr Walsh kissing Meg.

Mr Barry told the court, regarding that kiss, that Mr O'Brien told him "he saw his friend standing with Meg fully clothed, giving her a peck of a kiss." He described it as "a drunken kiss".

According to Mr Barry, Mr O'Brien told him that Meg left the house on the Sunday, October 1, 2006 and was gone before he returned from a walk at 5pm. But he told gardai he had a conversation with her when he came home from that walk, and heard Meg leave the house at 8.30pm and drive off.

The jury has been shown CCTV footage which the prosecution say shows Mr O'Brien on the banks of the River Suir at around 5.30pm on the Sunday in question, not far from where Meg's body was washed up.

The court also heard that Mr Barry, Mr O'Brien and another colleague watched a helicopter searching the Suir on Monday, October 2. Mr Barry said that they must be searching for a body, but Mr O'Brien did not react. The following day, he called in sick.

Gardai found Ms Walsh's purse and handbag in the kitchen, while a cash card was found behind the fridge. The Circuit Criminal Court trial continues today.