John O’Donoghue’s convictions quashed over CCTV investigation

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

The Court of Appeal quashed John O’Donoghue’s convictions for assault causing serious harm and violent disorder after finding that failings in the CCTV investigation deprived him of a reasonable prospect of a defence. The proceedings were reported on 16 February 2024.

At Limerick Circuit Criminal Court in November 2021, a jury unanimously convicted O’Donoghue of assault causing serious harm to Willie O’Driscoll Sr, then aged 74, and of violent disorder. The offences occurred in Bothar Buí, Rathkeale, Co Limerick, on 17 December 2017.

O’Donoghue had pleaded not guilty on all counts. The jury acquitted him of producing a machete during a dispute and making threats to kill. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for the assault and a concurrent eight-year term for violent disorder.

At the appeal, Michael Bowman SC, for O’Donoghue, said gardaí had retrieved no CCTV despite an engineer hired by the defence identifying 30 cameras in the area. He submitted that a woman with cameras covering the incident location said her equipment was operational and had told gardaí they could view it. The court heard that gardaí never returned to do so.

On 16 February 2024, Justice Tara Burns said the three-judge court upheld O’Donoghue’s complaint that the trial judge had failed to direct an acquittal. She said the State had offered no evidence to rebut the woman’s account and that there were significant failings in the CCTV investigation.