Danny Keena pleads not guilty to murder at Central Criminal Court

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

Danny Keena was charged with the murder of Brigid Maguire at Main Street, Ballynacargy, on 14 November 2015. He pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to her manslaughter. The proceedings were reported on 3 October 2017.

At the Central Criminal Court, their daughter Jade Maguire testified that her father had threatened to kill her mother while waving a hammer and later a poker. Defence counsel Colm Smyth SC told her that Keena disputed ever threatening her, her mother or her brother with a hammer or poker.

Prosecuting counsel Remy Farrell SC told the jury that the cause of Brigid Maguire’s death was strangulation and that it would have to consider whether Keena intended to kill her. He also explained that a manslaughter conviction could arise from a defence of provocation involving a total loss of self-control.

The trial was continuing before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury. It was expected to last five days.