Mulhall's two daughters, Linda and Charlotte, are serving lengthy sentences for their involvement in the killing of Kenyan national Farah Swaleh Noor in March 2005.

The two women told garda� that their 51-year-old mother was present during the murder and Charlotte claimed it was Kathleen who told them to kill Noor and cut his body up.

However, after deliberating for nearly six months, the DPP has told investigating detectives that there is not enough evidence to sustain a murder charge.

The Sunday Tribune understands that Mulhall will be charged with being an accessory to the murder.

She is currently in England, having left Ireland when her daughters were charged 18 months ago. She had been staying at her brother's house in Birmingham but is now thought to be in the London area.

Sources say officers will travel to England over the next two to three weeks and ask Kathleen to return to Ireland voluntarily. If she refuses an international arrest warrant will be issued and she will be extradited.

The case against Kathleen has been weakened significantly by the refusal of 32-yearold Linda and her 24-year-old sister Charlotte to co-operate in the investigation.

Apart from their initial statements admitting their involvement in the killing, when they detailed their mother's alleged role, the two women have refused to speak to garda� about Kathleen.

A source said: "The DPP has decided that there will be charges and we are looking to charge her with being an accessory. There just isn't the evidence to support a murder case. We are keeping tabs on her in England and will be in a position to move on her shortly. It would have been great if her daughters co-operated in the prosecution but their attitude is that if their mam is convicted she will be in the same jail as them and it would be very awkward."

Kathleen has been arrested for questioning about the murder of 38-year-old Farah Swaleh Noor but denied any involvement. The mother of six had been in a relationship with Noor for nearly four years.

She claims that Noor beat her on a regular basis and Charlotte told detectives that Kathleen pleaded with her to murder Noor after a night's drinking because he would kill her within a year.

Kathleen, who is from Tallaght in Dublin, told garda� that she was drinking with Farah and her two daughters on the night of his death but left them to go and work as a prostitute on Baggot Street.

She said that when she returned to the flat at Richmond Cottages the following morning she saw no body in the flat and nothing to suggest there had been a murder. She has been captured on CCTV buying bleach and other items to clean the flat.

Linda and Charlotte beat Noor with a hammer and stabbed him 22 times before cutting his body into eight pieces and dumping it in the canal at Ballybough Bridge.

His head and penis have never been found.

Linda is serving a 15-year sentence for Noor's manslaughter while Charlotte was sentenced to life for his murder.