THE Director of Public Prosecutions has asked a senior counsel to examine the case against Kathleen Mulhall, whose two daughters are serving jail sentences for the killing of her boyfriend Farah Swaleh Noor.

The 51-year-old is currently believed to be staying in London waiting to see if the DPP will bring charges for her role in the murder of the 38-year-old Kenyan whose dismembered corpse was found in the Royal Canal in Dublin.

Kathleen's daughters Charlotte and Linda were convicted of the murder and manslaughter of Noor on 20 March 2005 at a flat in Richmond Cottages in Ballybough.

Kathleen was present in the flat when the murder took place and asked her daughters to kill Noor, according to 23-year-old Charlotte.

The unemployed mother of six left the country after her daughter Linda was charged in September 2005 and went to live with a relative in Birmingham.

After the women were sentenced last December, Kathleen fled Birmingham and detectives believe that she is currently at an address in London. She was arrested for questioning about the murder in August 2005.

The DPP has been considering the case against Kathleen, who is from Kilclare Gardens in Tallaght, for over six months and is said to be having difficulty deciding what offence to charge her with.

He has asked a senior counsel involved in the trial of Charlotte and Linda to examine the file which is said to be extremely complex.

Garda� are anxious that a decision is made either way because the longer that passes the harder it is to track Kathleen in the UK. She is known to be following developments in the case via the internet.

A female garda from Fitzgibbon Street is on standby to travel immediately to England when the DPP rules. When that happens garda� will secure an international arrest warrant.

However, senior sources say that it will be at least another two months before the DPP's office comes back with a final judgement.

Detectives have accepted that there is not enough evidence to bring a murder charge against Kathleen. Neither of her daughters alleged that she had played any role in the murder or subsequent dismemberment.

However, investigators are confident that the fact that both women have stated that Kathleen asked them to murder Noor or he would kill her before the year was out is enough to bring a conspiracy charge.

The Mulhall sisters also allege that Kathleen advised them to cut up the body and cleaned up the murder scene.

The remains of Farah Swaleh Noor were found in the Royal Canal at Ballybough Bridge on 30 March 2005. He had been cut into eight pieces by 32-year-old Linda and her younger sister.

The two women told garda� that they murdered Farah Noor after he made inappropriate sexual advances on Linda following a day's drinking.

He grabbed hold of Linda and would not let her go. Charlotte told garda� that Kathleen shouted, "Just please kill him for me, kill him for me."

Charlotte, who worked as a prostitute, then picked up a blade from the kitchen counter and cut Farah's Noor's throat. Linda hit him about the head with a hammer up to a dozen times while Charlotte stabbed him 22 times.

Linda was found guilty of Noor's manslaughter and jailed for 15 years while Charlotte was convicted of his murder and given a mandatory life sentence.