Matthew Cummins, Sean Davy and James Davy sentenced for Thomas Dooley murder

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

Matthew Cummins, Sean Davy and James Davy were each sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment for murdering Thomas ‘Toddy’ Dooley. Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan imposed the sentences at the Central Criminal Court on 10 October 2016.

Matthew Cummins was convicted on 5 August 2016, while Sean Davy and James Davy were convicted on 4 August 2016. The judge backdated all three sentences to account for time spent in custody awaiting trial since 24 November 2014, when they were first charged.

The trial heard that Mr Dooley suffered eight blows to the head with a baseball bat that smashed his skull and disfigured his face. The three men gave different accounts. Matthew Cummins claimed Sean Davy carried out the beating. Sean Davy claimed James Davy inflicted most of the blows and admitted striking Mr Dooley once, but “not full force”. James Davy denied laying a hand on Mr Dooley, claiming Sean Davy beat him and Matthew Cummins kicked him, but not with much force.

Detective Garda Joseph Bradley told the sentencing court that all three men had previous convictions. The report listed 69 for Matthew Cummins, seven for Sean Davy and 21 for James Davy. In December 2014, Matthew Cummins received four years with two suspended for arson.

The court also heard that Sean Davy and James Davy had written apologies to Mr Dooley’s family. James Davy’s apology expressed sadness at the death and regret that he had done nothing to stop it.