Courts / Offaly / Report

No evidence of men's agreement to harm grandfather murderer in own home, appeal court finds

Summary

The Court of Appeal has quashed the murder convictions of Matthew Cummins and James Davy, substituting them with convictions for assisting an offender under the Criminal Law Act 1997. In a written judgment, the court found no evidence of a joint enterprise to murder 64-year-old Thomas 'Toddy' Dooley, whose death resulted from eight blows to the head and two to the torso. While the court described the defendants' subsequent conduct—attempting to burn the body and disposing of a baseball bat—as 'reprehensible,' it ruled this did not prove a prior agreement to kill. The appeal court rejected arguments for separate trials, noting the jury was entitled to hear the facts in totality. It determined that the trial judge erred in failing to direct the jury to return not guilty verdicts for murder but found overwhelming evidence of guilt regarding the post-offence conduct. The matter was adjourned and sent back to the Central Criminal Court for sentencing. Seán Davy, who had previously failed in a bid to have his conviction overturned in 2018, remains a convicted person in this case, though the current judgment specifically addresses the substitution of verdicts for Cummins and James Davy.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: No evidence of men's agreement to harm grandfather murderer in own home, appeal court finds. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• February 12, 2014 Incident
• October 10, 2016 Incident
• 2021-07-14 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