Mark Crawford appeals murder conviction over self-defence direction

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

Mark Crawford’s appeal against his murder conviction was heard by the Court of Appeal on 24 March 2022. His lawyers argued that the trial judge had wrongly directed the jury about self-defence.

Crawford pleaded not guilty to murdering Patrick ‘Pa’ O’Connor. The jury convicted him after a Central Criminal Court trial in October 2020, and Ms Justice Tara Burns sentenced him to a mandatory life term.

Crawford said he had acted in self-defence after stabbing O’Connor six times at Fitzgerald’s Bar in Limerick city. The DPP argued that the self-defence issues had been fully addressed and that the jury’s direction was sound. Judgment was reserved.