Kieran Greene denies murder charge in Dublin trial

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

Kieran Greene denies murdering Patricia O'Connor, the mother of his partner, Louise O'Connor. The proceedings at the Central Criminal Court were reported on 22 January 2020.

Louise O'Connor, her daughter Stephanie and Stephanie's father Keith Johnston all deny impeding Greene's apprehension or prosecution.

Greene told gardaí that, on the night of 29 May 2017, Patricia O'Connor attacked him first with a hurley. He said he had hit her at least twice, but that it was not planned or intentional and he was defending himself. He said he panicked and did not call an ambulance, and that he let her die because his children would be safe.

The former Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis, gave evidence that he examined 15 parts of Patricia O'Connor's body between 11 and 14 June 2017 and that her entire body had been recovered. He said she died from blunt force trauma to the head and had been struck at least three times with a solid implement. He found no typical defensive injuries to her hands or forearms.

Under cross-examination by Greene's lawyers, Dr Curtis said he could not exclude the possibility that one head wound had been caused by a fall onto a shower step. He said the fatal blow had probably caused death rather rapidly. The report described evidence being heard at the trial; it reported no verdict.