Courts / Dublin / Report

Serial Killer Nash's conviction for Grangegorman Murders is upheld

Date
2018-05-08

Stage
Appeal

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

The Court of Appeal has upheld the murder conviction of Mark Nash for the killings of two women in Grangegorman, Dublin, in 1997. A three-judge panel, led by Mr Justice Alan Mahon, dismissed all grounds of appeal on 8 May 2018. Nash was convicted in 2015 of murdering the two victims, whose bodies were discovered in sheltered accommodation two decades after the crimes. He received a mandatory life sentence. The court found the trial was conducted fairly and the verdict was justified by evidence. Nash's appeal centred on challenges to his admissions to gardaí, forensic evidence including DNA found on his jacket, and the lawfulness of evidence seizure. The judges concluded the scientific evidence did not prove contamination and that a jury could reasonably determine the DNA profiles were present from the time of the murders. Nash is already serving life imprisonment for two further murders committed in Roscommon in 1997.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Serial Killer Nash's conviction for Grangegorman Murders is upheld. Charges or matters: the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Found guilty

When:

March 6 Hearing Or Sentence
March 7, 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
April 20, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
October 1998 Hearing Or Sentence
August 1997 Incident
July 1997 Incident
2018-05-08 Publication

Why: Opening his four-day appeal hearing last November, Nash's lead senior counsel, Hugh Hartnett SC, told the Court of Appeal that it was an "extraordinary and unusual case" because another man, the late Dean Lyons, had "confessed". CNI source report

Case subjects

Grangegorman Murders

Background Person

Charges: the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997 (Alleged Or Contested)

Outcome: A short time later, while Nash was in detention on foot of the Roscommon double killing, he admitted to having carried out the Grangegorman murders five months earlier.

Mark Nash

Background Person

Charges: the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997 (Proven)

Finding: Found guilty

Outcome: Found guilty; A Central Criminal Court jury found Nash unanimously guilty after deliberating for four hours following a 48-day trial and he was accordingly given the mandatory life sentence by Mr Justice Carroll Moran on April 20, 2015. A short time later, while Nash was in detention on foot of the Roscommon double killing, he admitted to having carried out the Grangegorman murders five months earlier.