Supreme Court dismisses Christopher McDonald’s appeal against murder conviction

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

The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed Christopher McDonald’s appeal against his conviction for murdering Keith Walker at the Blanchardstown Pigeon Racing Club in 2015. McDonald, who was sentenced to life imprisonment after his 2017 conviction, challenged the admissibility of DNA samples taken while he was in custody.

The five-judge court ruled that McDonald’s consent to the swabs was valid and that his solicitor did not need to be present when they were taken. The court held the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence) Act 1990 did not remove the common-law route used to obtain the samples; Justice Gerard Hogan agreed that the appeal should be dismissed and the conviction upheld, while reserving his position on the broader question of a detained suspect’s entitlement to legal assistance.