Courts / Limerick / Report
Killer serving life sentence for snapping mother's neck wants to quash parole refusal
Summary
Damien Donnan, serving a life sentence for the manslaughter of his mother Jennifer in 2000, is seeking to quash a decision that refused him parole. Donnan, who was 18 at the time of the offence, was convicted after a trial in February 2002. He had originally been charged with murder but was found guilty of manslaughter. The offence involved a dispute over a cigarette, during which Donnan broke his mother's neck and strangled her. In 2006 he received a suspended life sentence, but the suspension was removed in 2007 after he failed to comply with medication and drug‑abuse conditions. The High Court is hearing his application to overturn the parole board's refusal, which was made in September 2024. Donnan's lawyers argue that the board conflated Sections 13 and 30 of the Parole Act, creating an error in law. The court has adjourned the application for leave to seek judicial review to the following month.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Killer serving life sentence for snapping mother's neck wants to quash parole refusal. Charges or matters: manslaughter. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Convicted
When:
- February 2002 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 2000 Hearing Or Sentence
- July 2006 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 2007 Hearing Or Sentence
- July 2007 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2025-02-10 Publication
Case subjects
Applicant
Charges: manslaughter (Proven)
Finding: Convicted
Outcome: Convicted; In July 2007, the Central Criminal Court removed the suspended sentence and imposed a life sentence on Donnan, backdating it to April 2000.; adjournment
Places mentioned
- De Valera Park
- Central Criminal Court
- High Court
- Central Mental Hospital
- Arbour Hill prison
Topics
Drugs Stage Sentence Violent Crime
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