Courts / Offaly / Report

Pair have convictions overturned for 'savage' murder of Tomas Dooley

Summary

The Court of Appeal has quashed the murder convictions of Matthew Cummins, Seán Davy, and James Davy regarding the 2014 death of Thomas Dooley in Edenderry, Co Offaly. Presiding with Justices John Edwards and Isobel Kennedy, Court President Justice George Birmingham substituted the verdicts with convictions for impeding the apprehension or prosecution of a person under Section 7(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1997. The court ordered that the men be sent back to the Central Criminal Court for sentencing on these substituted verdicts, with a written judgement expected later. The three men had previously been found guilty of murder by a unanimous jury in 2016 and sentenced to life imprisonment. During the appeal, counsel for Cummins argued that the trial judge failed to properly explain the law regarding joint enterprise and that Cummins should have been directed to plead guilty to impeding. Counsel for James Davy argued that the judge's directions were confusing and that his client's fear constituted a reasonable excuse. The DPP argued that all three men were intrinsically involved in the savage killing. The appeal court accepted the arguments for quashing the murder convictions but substituted them with the lesser offence, leaving the matter for sentencing rather than concluding it.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Pair have convictions overturned for 'savage' murder of Tomas Dooley. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• February 12, 2014 Incident
• October 10, 2016 Incident
• 2021-07-13 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal Violent Crime

Related court reports

• Court rejects child abuser's conviction appeal
• Teacher alleges women given preferential treatment in Masters programme 24 years ago
• Child rapist argues trial was unfair
• 'I refuse to remain silent anymore,' victim tells court as man jailed for repeated rapes
• Double killer claims gardai 'fabricated' murder case against him
• Woman repeatedly raped as child says she 'refuses to remain silent anymore'

Read the original CNI report