A Dublin man has lost his appeal against his conviction for the murder of the father of his girlfriend's child.
The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday dismissed the appeal by Peter Murray (22), Donomore Crescent, Killinarden, Tallaght.
He was jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court last May for the murder, on April 12th, 2002, of Peter Bisset (23), Cushlawn Park, also in Tallaght.
Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan, presiding at the three-judge appeal court, said they were satisfied the trial judge, Mr Justice Paul Carney, had correctly charged the jury in relation to the issue of provocation.
Evidence was given during the trial that Mr Bisset was beaten and stabbed with part of his own child's cot and with a knife.
He died in hospital shortly after being beaten and stabbed outside his former girlfriend's home on Donomore Crescent, as his three-year-old daughter slept inside.
During the seven-day trial, the court was told that when first approached by gardaí, Murray had denied all knowledge of the incident. The jury was given forensic evidence which showed that Mr Bisset's blood was found on Murray's clothing.
When he finally admitted the killing, Murray said he did not care how long he would be locked up because Mr Bisset deserved to die.
He told gardaí he was armed with the knife and part of the cot when he opened the door to him. Mr Bisset did not have a weapon.
Retired State Pathologist Prof John Harbison had told the trial that his postmortem examination had shown the victim bled to death as a result of a stab wound to the right lung and heart.
The results revealed the use of another weapon, with bruising and bleeding to the brain and skull, he said.