Courts / Dublin / Report

"Travellers can be victims of burglaries too", lawyers tell murder trial

Summary

In the Central Criminal Court, the defence lawyer Séamus Clarke SC argued that Travellers can also be victims of burglaries, citing the Criminal Law (Defence and the Dwelling) Act 2011 and a 2011 judgement by Justice Adrian Hardiman. He presented the case of 20‑year‑old Martin Keenan, who pleaded not guilty to the murder of 33‑year‑old Wesley Mooney, who was stabbed with a garden shears at Keenan's mobile home in Dublin on 5 June 2016. Clarke said Keenan was not seeking trouble and that the intruder had chosen to invade his home, giving the homeowner latitude to defend himself. The prosecution, led by Garnet Orange SC, countered that the deceased was not attacking anyone, the force used was unreasonable, and that Keenan's claim of self‑defence was unsupported. The jury was instructed that it could find Keenan not guilty of murder or guilty of manslaughter, and the case would be charged on Monday.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: "Travellers can be victims of burglaries too", lawyers tell murder trial. Charges or matters: murdering Wesley Mooney (33) at St Joseph's Park halting site, Dunsink Lane, north Dublin on June 5, 2016. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• June 5, 2016 Incident
• 2018-03-09 Publication

Why: Martin Keenan was outraged because somebody had gone into his mobile home when he was not there. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report