A man who was jailed for life for murdering an AIDS patient in his hospital bed has lost his appeal against his conviction.
Patrick Gilraine (50) (otherwise known as Kilraine) of Basin Street flats, Dublin, had been convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury on April 11th, 2003, of stabbing to death his friend, Mr Kevin Dowler (52) also from Basin Street, Dublin, while Mr Dowler was being treated at St James's Hospital, Dublin, in February 2002.
The trial was told that Gilraine attacked Mr Dowler because he believed Mr Dowler was a paedophile who posed a threat to young boys. When arrested in the hospital grounds, Gilraine had said he did it "to save other kids", and he would do it again. "I hope he's dead. He's a paedophile," he later told gardaí. He said he had lost his temper when he confronted Mr Dowler, who died after being stabbed seven times.
During the four-day trial, the jury was told that Mr Dowler was a homosexual who had AIDS and who had been in hospital for a number of months. Gilraine described him as a "mate", and visited him a number of times on the day of the murder.
Yesterday Gilraine appealed on grounds the trial judge erred in failing to direct the jury adequately on the law of provocation. But Mr Justice Fennelly, presiding, held that the judge had properly addressed the jury in this regard.