Ann Phelan jailed for manslaughter of David Ennis

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Ann Phelan was sentenced to six years in prison for the manslaughter of David Ennis at the Central Criminal Court on 3 March 2025. Mr Justice Paul Burns suspended the final year for three years.

Phelan was originally charged with the murder of Ennis, 36, at Claddagh Court in Ballyfermot, Dublin, on 8 November 2022. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The judge said Phelan had acted in self-defence in response to an anticipated attack from Ennis. The report said she had used excessive force. The judge said Ennis had assaulted Phelan in the bedroom and had suffered a head injury in a fall from a balcony days earlier.

Phelan told gardaí she was frightened, thought Ennis had a knife and had intended to stab him in the arm. The judge pointed out that Ennis was unarmed and treated Phelan’s use of a knife as an aggravating factor. He said Ennis died from one of three stab wounds.

The judge set an eight-year headline sentence and considered Phelan’s guilty plea, remorse, drug addiction and depression in mitigation. The sentence was backdated to 27 October 2023, when she went into custody. The suspended year was conditional on three years of probation supervision and engagement with counselling and addiction services.