Court archive

Court reports mentioning Meigh, Armagh

2025-12-12 · Dublin

Double murderer appeals conviction, claiming tweet from an account linked to prosecution expert was used as 'marketing tool'

Jason O'Driscoll, convicted of the murders of Anthony Burnett and Joseph Redmond in Co Louth in 2012, had his appeal reheard today before a reconstituted Court of Appeal panel. The matter was previously adjourned after it emerged that one of the original judges, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, had presided over O'Driscoll's 2017 trial. O'Driscoll, who pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2018, argues that the conviction is unsafe due to flawed expert vehicle identification evidence and a tweet from a prosecution expert's account. Defence counsel Seán Guerin contended that the evidence from Acuity Forensics lacked scientific validity and that the tweet, which congratulated the Gardaí on the conviction, acted as a "marketing tool" undermining the expert's independence. The prosecution, represented by Patrick Gageby SC, maintained that the vehicle identification was part of the circumstantial evidence and that the tweet did not indicate a lack of impartiality. The court has reserved judgment on the appeal.

2018-07-30 · Louth

Jury deliberating in double murder trial

The jury has begun deliberating in the trial of a 35‑year‑old man charged with murdering two fellow Dubliners, who had planned to sell him a stolen car. Jason O'Driscoll, of Richmond Avenue, Fairview, has been on trial at the Central Criminal Court for the past month. He has pleaded not guilty to murdering 31‑year‑old Anthony Burnett and 25‑year‑old Joseph Redmond in Co Louth on 7 March 2012. Firefighters were called to a burning car in Ravensdale Forest Park shortly before 11 o'clock that night. The bodies of the two men were discovered fused together inside the Volkswagen Golf they had stolen that morning. They had been shot in their heads. The State's case is that Mr O'Driscoll was involved in the murder, travelling to and from the scene in a stolen silver Mercedes S Class. The prosecutor told the jury that it could rely on circumstantial evidence to convict him.

2017-11-08 · Louth

Double murder trial hears evidence of reconstruction

In a double murder trial, the jury heard technical evidence on a reconstruction of CCTV footage to identify vehicles involved in the 2012 killings of Anthony Burnett (31) and Joseph Redmond (25) in Louth. The defendant, Jason O'Driscoll (34) of Fairview, pleaded not guilty. Firefighters responded to a burning car in Ravensdale Forest Park before 11 pm, where the bodies were found with gunshot wounds to the head. The prosecution presented CCTV of vehicles before and after 11 pm, and forensic image analysts Matthew Cass and Andrew Wooller testified about a reconstruction exercise. Cass described testing about a dozen vehicles, using side‑by‑side comparisons due to operational constraints. Wooller noted the reconstruction's limited value after CCTV changes, but identified a large light‑toned car as a Mercedes S‑Class and a dark‑toned hatchback as possibly a Volkswagen Golf. The State's case links the victims to a stolen black Volkswagen Golf, which was later found abandoned in Meigh.

2017-11-07 · Louth

Vehicle identification expert gives evidence at double murder trial

The double murder trial of Dubliner Jason O'Driscoll, 34, continues at the Central Criminal Court before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy. O'Driscoll has pleaded not guilty to the alleged murder of 31-year-old Anthony Burnett and 25-year-old Joseph Redmond in Co Louth on March 7th, 2012. The prosecution alleges the victims, who were car thieves, were shot dead in a layby at Ravensdale Forest Park and their vehicle set on fire. The State's case asserts that O'Driscoll and another man fled the scene in a stolen black Volkswagen Golf, which was later found abandoned in Meigh, Armagh. A vehicle identification expert, Andrew Wooller, testified that he was contacted by Gardaí to analyze CCTV footage from both locations. Wooller, who manages a UK-based imagery analysis firm, identified a light-toned vehicle in Ravensdale as consistent with a Mercedes S Class and a following dark hatchback as potentially a Volkswagen Golf. He further stated that a vehicle entering a carpark in Meigh was immediately apparent as a Mercedes S Class. The jury has reviewed the relevant CCTV footage. The trial is ongoing, with no final verdict or sentence recorded at this procedural stage.