Courts / Dublin / Report

Man cleared of trying to murder mother of ex's new partner

Summary

In a Central Criminal Court trial, Robert Lawlor, aged 35, was found not guilty on all five charges, including threatening to murder his ex‑girlfriend's partner and attempting to murder the partner's mother by firing shots into her home. The jury, after two hours and forty minutes, returned a verdict of not guilty. Lawlor, who had pleaded not guilty to each charge, was represented by barrister Patrick McGrath SC, who challenged the reliability of witness testimony, particularly that of Fiona Mitchell, who claimed to have seen Lawlor with a gun. The prosecution maintained Mitchell's account was consistent, but the court accepted the defence's arguments. The judge thanked the jury and exempted them from further service for five years. No sentence was imposed as the verdict was a not‑guilty finding.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Man cleared of trying to murder mother of ex's new partner. Charges or matters: the attempted murder of Fiona Mitchell at Moatview Avenue, Priorswood, Dublin on May 26, 2018; the charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life at Moatview Avenue, Priorswood, Dublin on the same date; making a threat to Rachel Kirwan at Donaghmede, Dublin on a date unknown between January 1 and 31 2018 to kill or cause serious harm to Fiona Mitchell and her son Derek Mitchell; shooting a dog endangering its health and welfare at Moatview Avenue, Priorswood on May 26, 2018. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• May 26, 2018 Incident
• February 2018 Other
• May 2018 Other
• December 2017 Incident
• January 1 Incident
• Christmas 2017 Other
• 2019-12-09 Publication

Why: He told the jury that the Supreme Court has said that where identification evidence is used, the jury must be warned about the danger of acting on it because mistakes have been made in the past. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report