High Court rejects Raymond Donovan’s bid for release from prison

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

The High Court has rejected Raymond Donovan’s bid to be released from prison, ruling there was no basis for his claim that an appeal had replaced his mandatory life sentence with a 20-year term. Mr Justice Garrett Simons said the challenge did not stand scrutiny.

Donovan, who is serving life for the 2005 murder of Ann Walsh, brought the case under Article 40.4.2 of the Constitution, seeking an inquiry into the legality of his detention. He claimed prison records referred to a 20-year sentence, but he had no warrant from the Court of Appeal to support that account. The court heard that his 2009 appeal against conviction had been rejected in full.