Courts

John Dundon appeal against conviction for murder to go ahead this month

Limerick criminal was jailed in 2013 over fatal shooting of innocent rugby player Shane Geoghegan

John Dundon: was convicted at the Special Criminal Court in 2013 of ordering the hit that killed Shane Geoghegan
John Dundon: was convicted at the Special Criminal Court in 2013 of ordering the hit that killed Shane Geoghegan
Paul Neilan
Mon Apr 08 2024 - 16:29

Over 15 years after innocent rugby player Shane Geoghegan was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity, the Limerick gangster who ordered the hit has been allocated a new legal team and will have his appeal against his murder conviction heard this month “come what may”.

Last month, John Dundon was accused of engaging in a “cynical ploy” after he sacked his lawyers and asked for an adjournment of his appeal against the conviction.

Dundon told the Court of Appeal that he discharged his lawyers after discovering that they were unable to advance a ground of appeal that the appellant said had been identified in recent months. The three judges of the court granted an application for Dundon’s then lawyers to withdraw from the case.

Dundon said he did not want to go into detail about an additional ground of appeal but said it related to things that were not disclosed to him ahead of his trial and that he was told did not exist but he is now in a position to prove did exist. He said he had instructed his legal team to raise this ground of appeal but decided to discharge them when he claimed he was told they “hadn’t done it properly”.

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Sean Guerin SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said Dundon was engaging in a “cynical ploy” and that he had used a similar tactic at his trial in 2013.

Shane Geoghegan: murdered in a case of mistaken identity in Limerick in November, 2008
Shane Geoghegan: murdered in a case of mistaken identity in Limerick in November, 2008

At the Court of Appeal on Monday, solicitor Phelim O’Neill, instructing Morgan Shelley BL, applied to come on the record for Dundon and was told that the appeal hearing would go ahead on April 22nd. Dundon was also granted free legal aid for his new team. Dundon spoke only to confirm to the judges that he wished to hire Mr O’Neill.

Mr Justice John Edwards said the matter had been marked as peremptory against Mr Dundon regarding the April 22nd date. “The expectation is that it is to proceed on April 22nd, come what may... and that’s the end of the matter,” said Mr Justice Edwards.

Mr Justice Edwards said motions for new grounds of appeal and sworn affidavits were to be completed in advance and said the court “will expect total clarity on what is and is not being proceeded one week in advance of the hearing”.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said Dundon’s team also had to serve the State with any relevant documents “in sufficient time for the State to address it”.

Both the Special Criminal Court and the High Court had previously rejected Dundon’s bids to have his 2013 murder trial adjourned.

Dundon (41) formerly of Hyde Road in Limerick, was convicted at the Special Criminal Court in 2013 of ordering the hit that killed Mr Geoghegan near the 28-year-old victim’s home at Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle, Limerick, on November 9th, 2008. He is serving a life sentence.

Mr Geoghegan played rugby for Garryowen in Limerick and had been watching an Ireland international game at a friend’s house before heading home shortly before 1am. He had just texted his girlfriend, Jenna Barry, to say he was on his way when she heard shots being fired outside.

Mr Geoghegan was shot five times with a Glock semi-automatic pistol. The fatal shot was to the back of the head.

It was the State’s case that Mr Geoghegan was the unintended victim of a shooting that was meant for another man and was ordered by John Dundon.

Key prosecution witness April Collins gave evidence that Dundon ordered Barry Doyle to kill the other man.

Doyle admitted during Garda interviews that he shot Mr Geoghegan in a case of mistaken identity. Doyle, of Portland Row in Dublin 1, later pleaded not guilty at trial to the murder but was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court and jailed for life.