Retrial set for man given life term for murder

A man jailed for life for the murder of another man at Dolphin's Road in Dublin three years ago had his conviction quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday.

The court ordered a retrial in the case of Mr Gerald Dunne. He was remanded in custody and is expected to apply for bail next week pending his retrial.

Gerald, or Gerard, Dunne (27), of Rafters Avenue, Drimnagh, was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in March 2001 of the murder of Mr Liam Thompson (20) of Wood Lawn Park Grove, Firhouse, Tallaght, at Dolphin's Road, Dublin, on January 27th, 1999.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment by Mr Justice Butler.

Mr Thompson died after he was stabbed during a fight which, Mr Dunne's trial was told, broke out initially over the use of a public phone.

Mr Thompson had been attending a nearby funeral just before he was stabbed.

At the appeal court yesterday, Mr Justice Geoghegan, presiding, sitting with Mr Justice O'Higgins and Mr Justice Peart, said there was a "glaring omission" in the trial judge's charge to the jury in relation to the defence of self-defence.

Although the trial judge had permitted the self-defence issue to go to the jury, the jury were not told what matters they should consider in relation to that defence.

Mr Justice Geoghegan said the trial judge was bound to explain to the jury what matters they should consider.

It was another issue whether the self-defence issue should have been let go to the jury at all, he added. However, the appeal court could not, and should not, go into that matter in any substantial way.

Mr Justice Geoghegan told Mr Hugh Hartnett SC, for Mr Dunne, that the appeal court would dismiss all other grounds of appeal by Mr Dunne and was quashing the conviction on the self-defence ground only.

He said the Court of Criminal Appeal believed the trial judge was correct in not having allowed the defence of provocation to go to the jury.

To do so would have been totally unjustified on the evidence advanced at the trial.

However, he stressed, the issue of whether this and other matters, including whether the self-defence defence would be permitted at the new trial, were all matters for that trial judge to decide.