Third man found guilty of Thomas Dooley murder

A third man has been convicted of the murder of a 64-year-old man who was beaten to death with a baseball bat in his own home.

Matthew Cummins (22), of Churchview Heights, Edenderry, Co Offaly and his co-accused Sean Davy, (21), of Clonmullen Drive, Edenderry, and James Davy (25), of Thornhill Meadows, Celbridge, Co Kildare had pleaded not guilty to murdering Thomas "Toddy" Dooley at Sr Senan Court in Edenderry on February 12th, 2014.

The jury at the Central Criminal Court found the two cousins, Sean Davy and James Davy, guilty on Thursday and yesterday they returned a guilty verdict for Matthew Cummins.

They had spent a total of nine hours and 49 minutes considering the decisions after a three-week trial.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan thanked the jury for their service, their attention and their patience, saying they had listened to some “gruesome details”.

“Watching you, I can see it has been a little more difficult for some than for others,” she said. She exempted them from further jury service for life.

She added: “I want to extend my deepest and most sincere sympathy to the family of Mr Thomas Dooley.”

Life sentences

The three men face mandatory life sentences, but Ms Justice Heneghan postponed formally sentencing them until October 10th.

She ordered an education and urinalysis report for Matthew Cummins and a psychiatric report for James Davy for that date, and remanded all three in custody.

There was a scuffle between prison guards and Matthew Cummins as the convicted man was led away.

The trial had heard that Sean Davy and James Davy had met in Mangan’s Pub, Edenderry, earlier on the evening of February 11th, 2014, where they drank several pints.

James Davy was carrying a baseball bat, which he said he needed for protection because he had been beaten up the last time he came to Edenderry.

At about 9.30pm they went to an impromptu house party at the home of April Murray in The Sycamores, Edenderry.

Having been ejected from the property some time later, the trio went to a local 24-hour garage where they got cups and a mixer for a bottle of vodka they had bought earlier.

Then they made the decision to go to Mr Dooley’s house. Matthew Cummins had been in his house before and knew the 64-year-old.

Irregular house

Cummins climbed in a window and then opened another window to let the other two in.

Mr Dooley, who was described as “soft” by one Garda witness, was used to having young visitors at irregular hours and it appears he did not object. The three men gave different accounts of what happened next as Mr Dooley was assaulted.

State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy gave an indication of the brutality of the attack on Mr Dooley. She found eight blows to his head which had shattered his skull, disfiguring his face and leaving fragments of bone lodged in his brain.

Two blows to his torso had fractured three of his ribs.

She found extensive burn marks on his legs and arms where his attackers had tried to set him on fire after he died.

The three were yesterday sent to Cloverhill and will return on October 10th to face sentencing.