Jason O'Driscoll pleads not guilty to double murder

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

Jason O'Driscoll has pleaded not guilty to murdering Anthony Burnett and Joseph Redmond in Co Louth. The two men were found shot dead in a burned car on 7 March 2012.

The proceedings were reported on 20 October 2017. Firefighters were among the first witnesses called that day in the Central Criminal Court trial.

Firefighter Stephen Hoey said he saw a skull and ribcage on the driver’s seat while attending a burning car at Ravensdale Forest car park. Senior firefighter Vincent McGuinness said he later saw a second skull inside the car.

Detective Garda Shane Curran said he saw the badly burned remains of two people in a Volkswagen Golf at the scene the following day. Pathologist Jack Crane said each man had died from two bullet wounds to the head and was satisfied both were dead before the fire started. The trial continued before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury.