Conor Rafferty awaited assault sentence after murder acquittal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Conor Rafferty was found not guilty of murdering Josip Strok at the Central Criminal Court. He had pleaded not guilty to murder and guilty to assault causing harm to Mr Strok’s friend, David Druzinec.

The proceedings were reported on 17 November 2025. Rafferty was due to be sentenced for the assault the following week.

Mark Lee and Anthony Delappe had denied murdering Mr Strok but were found guilty by a majority verdict. Both received life sentences for murder. They also pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Druzinec: Lee received six years in prison and Delappe received three and a half years.

The attack took place in Clondalkin on 30 March 2024. Mr Strok died in hospital four days later, on 3 April, from blunt force injuries. The report said Rafferty struck Mr Strok three times with half a crutch after he had stopped moving. Rafferty later told gardaí that he had inflicted only two or three light smacks on Mr Strok’s back and had not intended to harm him. He also apologised and said he was ashamed. The jury accepted his defence and acquitted him of murder.

Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said the court could not overlook Lee’s ugly, ill-informed and discriminatory views. She said he had followers and supporters for those views.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.