A man has secured a fresh appeal to the Supreme Court against his conviction for the murder of his friend, who was in a
coma for almost two years after being shot twice in a car.
The Court of Criminal Appeal said legal issues raised by Jonathan Dunne, including whether duress can be a defence to a murder charge, were of “exceptional” public importance, requiring determination by the Supreme Court.
Dunne (28), Windmill Park, Crumlin, was convicted in 2012 of the murder of Ian Kenny, who died in Beaumont Hospital on July 31st, 2009. Mr Kenny was shot by Dunne on July 4th, 2007 and was in a coma until his death. Dunne claimed he was forced to carry out the shooting by unnamed persons who threatened his life and the lives of his family.
Dunne was previously convicted of the attempted murder of Mr Kenny and having a firearm.
He had pleaded guilty to both charges and was jailed for a total of 12 years for the offences. After Mr Kenny’s death, Dunne was charged and convicted of murder and jailed for life. He lost his appeal against the conviction last July but his counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, this week asked the Court of Criminal Appeal to refer the case to the Supreme Court.
Points of law
Yesterday, the appeal court agreed to certify two points of law for determination by the Supreme Court. The first point concerns whether an accused can be convicted of murder where the date of death alleged in the indictment occurs at a point of time removed from the incident and actions alleged against the accused, and after the lawful intervention of a third party.
Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell said Dunne’s side argued that Mr Kenny died from pneumonia and it could not properly or lawfully be said he was murdered by Dunne in an attack two years earlier. The judge said the court considered the question of whether duress should be a defence to murder to be an issue that should, in the public interest, be resolved by the Supreme Court.
