Simon McGinley jailed for Sligo pensioner’s murder

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

Simon McGinley was found guilty of murder and jailed for life, RTÉ News reported on 3 April 2014. The case concerned an attack on Eugene Gillespie at his home in Old Market Street, Sligo, in September 2012.

The jury reached a unanimous verdict after almost five hours of deliberation over two days. McGinley had admitted manslaughter, false imprisonment and robbery, but denied murdering the 67-year-old pensioner.

The report said Gillespie had been severely beaten and left tied up after a robbery. He later died in hospital from pneumonia caused by the coma resulting from his head injuries.

After the attack, McGinley telephoned a nearby garda station to say a man was tied up in a house. Gardaí checked the wrong house, and Gillespie was not found for a further day.

Defence lawyers said McGinley accepted that he brought about Gillespie’s death but said no weapon had been used. Senior Counsel Blaise O’Carroll said it was a tragedy that gardaí had not discovered Gillespie after McGinley’s call. The prosecution said the call did not shift responsibility to gardaí.