Patrick Murphy jailed for manslaughter of Jordan Ronan

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

Patrick Murphy was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court on March 16, 2026, to 10 years in prison for the manslaughter of Jordan Ronan, with the final year suspended for two years. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo backdated the sentence to July 26, 2024, when Murphy went into custody.

Murphy pleaded not guilty to murder and had offered a guilty plea to manslaughter before the trial began. On December 17, 2025, a jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Murphy admitted stabbing 20-year-old Ronan and causing his death on July 26, 2024, but maintained that he was defending his family and property. The court heard that Ronan had entered Murphy’s unlocked van and his partner’s car; a Revolut card belonging to Murphy had been taken from the van.

The court heard that Murphy came out of his home with a kitchen knife and stabbed Ronan once in the chest. Ronan ran away, collided with a lamppost and collapsed. Murphy did not call emergency services. After his arrest, Murphy said he had panicked and feared for his own safety and that of his partner and children.

At sentencing, Mr Justice Naidoo said the jury’s unanimous manslaughter verdict meant it had found Murphy’s use of force excessive. He treated the use of a knife as an aggravating factor and said leaving Ronan on a public road without calling an ambulance was difficult to reconcile with Murphy’s expressed remorse. The judge accepted that Murphy regretted his actions.

Ronan’s mother thanked two people who gave her son first aid and said she took some comfort from knowing he was not left to die alone. The court heard that Ronan’s partner was six weeks pregnant with their first child when he died.