Frederick Thompson loses appeal against murder conviction

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

Frederick Thompson lost an appeal against his conviction for the murder of David ‘Daithí’ Douglas. Thompson is serving a life sentence for the murder. The proceedings were reported on 30 January 2024.

The 12-day trial took place before the Special Criminal Court in May and June 2018, and the trial court delivered judgment on 30 August 2018. The Court of Appeal judgment was delivered by Ní Raifeartaigh J on 30 January 2024.

Douglas was shot at his shop on Bridgefoot Street in Dublin on 1 July 2016. The prosecution case was that four vehicles and their occupants operated together in planning and carrying out the murder. It relied on CCTV footage and forensic evidence linking Thompson to two of the vehicles.

Among the issues raised on appeal were Garda recognition of Thompson from CCTV footage, alleged double counting of circumstantial evidence, and objections that the recordings breached privacy and data protection law. His counsel argued that identification procedures were inadequate and that the footage was of low quality.