Two Co Sligo men jailed for life for the murder of a community activist and father of three outside his home had their appeals against conviction dismissed yesterday, by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The three-judge court rejected the appeals by Michael Doohan (36), an English native and private in the Defence Forces, with an address at Ballinode, and Patrick McGrath (59), of Cuilprunghlish, Gurteen, who were convicted at the non-jury Special Criminal Court in July 2000, of the murder of Mr Terry Madden, a FÁS supervisor, at his home at Monasteredan, Co Sligo, on January 29th, 1999.
During the trial, the court heard that Doohan paid another man, Joseph (Joey) Herron, who is also serving a life sentence for Mr Madden's murder, £1,500 to carry out a punishment style beating of Mr Madden.
It heard McGrath had introduced Doohan to Herron, that McGrath bought a shotgun and that Herron lay in wait outside the Madden home and shot Mr Madden twice in the back of the legs as he left his home on January 28th, 1999. He died as a result of massive blood loss. Giving judgment yesterday in Doohan's case, Ms Justice Denham, sitting with Mr Justice Roderick Murphy and Mr Justice Herbert, said the CCA was satisfied there was evidence upon which the trial court could find Doohan was in a joint enterprise with others, with the intent of causing serious injury to Mr Madden. It was open to the trial court to find there was an agreement to cause Mr Madden serious injury.
There was ample evidence on which to determine that the participants in the common design intended to cause serious injury to Mr Madden and this was sufficient intention for murder. While on the evidence the discharge of the gun was not expressly agreed, it was open to a jury properly directed to find that its use was not beyond what had been tacitly agreed, Ms Justice Denham added. The CCA would dismiss all four grounds of appeal.
In McGrath's case, Ms Justice Denham said the CCA dismissed all nine grounds of appeal including grounds asserting that McGrath's arrest under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act was invalid and that his detention, outside Manorhamilton Garda Station, was unlawful. She added the CCA was satisfied McGrath's trial was satisfactory in the sense of being conducted in a constitutional manner with fairness.