George Gonzaga Bento acquitted of Josh Dunne's murder

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

George Gonzaga Bento was acquitted of murdering 16-year-old Josh Dunne at the Central Criminal Court. Dunne died following a confrontation on East Wall Road in Dublin. The proceedings were reported on 14 June 2022.

The jury also found Bento not guilty of producing a knife in a manner likely to intimidate another and of assault causing harm to two other people. He had pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

The prosecution said Bento produced a knife during a confrontation with a man on a moped who had stolen another delivery cyclist's bike. Dunne and other youths then arrived and became involved. The jury was told it was accepted that Bento and his friend were acting lawfully in retrieving the bike and were subjected to an unlawful attack by others.

The prosecution argued that Bento was aggressive when he first produced the knife and that the force he later used was neither reasonable nor necessary. Bento said he acted in self-defence. His lawyers said he had perceived a threat from the man on the moped and that his use of the knife was justified by the assault and the risk of serious injury or death.

The jury returned its verdicts after more than eight hours of deliberation. Trial judge Mr Justice Paul Burns had directed jurors to consider each count separately. Bento was released from custody shortly after the verdicts.