Matthew Cummins released after murder conviction overturned

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

Matthew Cummins has been released from prison after serving seven years in custody, following the overturning of his murder conviction and his sentencing for impeding the apprehension of Sean Davy.

On 16 September 2021, Mr Justice Michael White sentenced Cummins to nine years in prison, with the final two years suspended. The sentence was to run consecutively to a two-year term he received in 2014 for arson. The report said Cummins was eligible for release.

The Court of Appeal had overturned the murder convictions of Cummins and James Davy, finding no evidence that they were involved in a joint enterprise with Sean Davy to murder Thomas ‘Toddy’ Dooley. It substituted convictions for impeding Sean Davy’s apprehension.

Dooley was killed in his home on 12 February 2014. The report said Sean Davy struck him eight times on the head with a baseball bat. Cummins admitted trying to set fire to Dooley’s body to destroy evidence.

Cummins’s counsel, Caroline Biggs SC, said he had used his time in prison constructively and shown genuine remorse. The judge described his prison behaviour as exemplary but said he remained at high risk of reoffending because of possible drug and alcohol addiction.

The report said James Davy had been released after serving his full prison term. Sean Davy had unsuccessfully appealed his murder conviction and was serving a life sentence.