Damien Fitzgerald and Bill O’Driscoll lose serious harm appeal

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

Damien Fitzgerald and Bill O’Driscoll had their serious harm convictions upheld by the Court of Appeal on 28 July 2017. The convictions arose from an assault on Karol O’Keeffe in Cork on 25 November 2013.

The court rejected arguments that the evidence was insufficient to support convictions for causing serious harm. It found the convictions safe and satisfactory, while allowing both men’s appeals against their robbery convictions because the trial judge had erred over possible alternative verdicts.

The Court of Appeal said it would hear submissions on whether retrials should be ordered on the robbery counts.