Sean Davy and James Davy convicted of murder

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

Sean Davy (21) and James Davy (25) were convicted by unanimous jury verdicts of murdering Thomas 'Toddy' Dooley on 4 August 2016. Thomas 'Toddy' Dooley, who was 64, was killed in his home at Sr Senan Court, Edenderry, on 12 February 2014.

Sean Davy and James Davy had pleaded not guilty to murder. Matthew Cummins (22) had also pleaded not guilty and was awaiting a verdict. The proceedings were reported on 4 August 2016.

The jury of eight men and four women returned at 4.33pm on 4 August 2016 after just over eight hours of deliberations. The foreman confirmed verdicts against two of the accused, which the registrar read out as “guilty”.

Justice Margaret Heneghan asked the jurors not to speak to anyone else about the case and to return on Friday morning to continue considering a verdict for Matthew Cummins. The available verdicts were guilty of murder; not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter; not guilty of murder but guilty of impeding the apprehension of an offender; or not guilty.

On 3 August 2016, Justice Margaret Heneghan told the jury it would be “illogical” to fully acquit any of the three men. The report also said the judge had described acquittal as “theoretical” and said it would not be logical given the evidence heard during the three-week trial.