Helen Jones’s murder appeal dismissed by Court of Appeal

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

Helen Jones’s appeal against her murder conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 6 June 2024.

Jones, convicted of murdering her brother Paul Jones, challenged the lawfulness of a search warrant used in the case. Her counsel argued the information given to the district court judge had not been sworn as required.

The court found the detective garda had taken an oath before reading the information to the judge, and that the oath implicitly covered that information. It ruled that invalidating the warrant over the wording of the oath would put form above substance.

The appeal court also said there was no legal requirement to keep a note of everything said during a warrant application. It dismissed the appeal, leaving Jones’s conviction and life sentence in place.