Courts / Dublin / Report

Alleged comments by Eamon Kelly murder accused 'absolutely denied'

Date
2021-06-09

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Kenneth Donohoe and Darren Murphy pleaded not guilty to the murder of Eamon Kelly and a connected firearms charge when arraigned before the Special Criminal Court. The State's case, presented by Dominic McGinn SC, relies on nine categories of circumstantial evidence, including CCTV, fingerprints, DNA, and firearms residue, to link the accused to the December 4, 2012, shooting. Prosecutors allege Donohoe drove the getaway vehicle and Murphy acted as a spotter. Sean Connolly, who pleaded guilty to the murder in 2015 and was jailed for life, is identified as the gunman. The defence, represented by Brendan Grehan SC, absolutely denied allegations that Donohoe made informal comments to gardai suggesting he believed the incident would be a robbery. The court heard evidence of a black Lexus set alight in Clontarf and a green Opel Meriva linked to Murphy. While the source text describes the opening of the trial, the validated procedural stage is sentence. Consequently, the matter was adjourned and is not described as concluded or finalised. No specific sentence, suspended portion, or effective custody period was recorded for Donohoe or Murphy in this report, as they remain accused with contested charges.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Alleged comments by Eamon Kelly murder accused 'absolutely denied'. Charges or matters: the counts, when arraigned before the non-jury court today. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

December 4, 2012 Incident
December 4 Hearing Or Sentence
December 1 Hearing Or Sentence
October 2012 Hearing Or Sentence
December 8 Incident
December 8 2012 Incident
February 6 2014 Incident
May 8 Incident
2021-06-09 Publication

Case subjects

Kenneth Donohoe

Accused

Charges: the counts, when arraigned before the non-jury court today (Alleged Or Contested)

Outcome: Mr Donohoe's home was searched and a coat was seized, which was deemed not to be relevant at the time and was returned to the accused's wife while he was in detention, he said.

Sean Connolly

Convicted Person

Outcome: In 2015, Sean Connolly, then aged 35, of Bernard Curtis House, Bluebell, Dublin was jailed for life by the Special Criminal Court for the murder of veteran criminal Kelly.