Vesel Jahiri jailed for murder of former partner

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

Vesel Jahiri was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his former partner, Anna Finnegan. Mr Justice Paul Coffey also imposed a concurrent four-year sentence for assaulting her brother, Karl. The sentencing proceedings were reported on 8 May 2017.

The court heard that, on 21 September 2012, Jahiri threatened to kill Anna Finnegan during a phone call. Later, he broke down the door of her home and came towards her and her brother with a knife. Both were stabbed. Jahiri drove her to hospital, where she said he had stabbed her; she died shortly afterwards.

During the trial, Jahiri punched prosecuting counsel Patrick Marrinan in the head. At the sentencing hearing, he interrupted to deny that he had a knife.

The court was told that Jahiri had suggested during the trial that Karl Finnegan was responsible for killing his sister. Detective Garda Bernard Connaughton said there was not a scintilla of truth to Jahiri's allegations.