Sentenced to life for murdering partner

A Dublin man who stabbed his partner to death and then placed a photograph of himself and their baby in her hands was today jailed…

A Dublin man who stabbed his partner to death and then placed a photograph of himself and their baby in her hands was today jailed for life for her murder.

Liam Wells (37), of Coultry Road, Ballymun, stabbed 24-year-old Linda Dunne 16 or 17 times at a flat at Sillogue Road, Ballymun, on September 18th, 2001.

Wells had denied the murder charge, but a jury convicted him at his trial last month.

He pleaded guilty to two further charges of assault causing harm to Ms Dunne's mother, Ms Kathleen Dunne, and her partner, Mr Joseph White, at Shangan Avenue, Ballymun, on the same date.

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Imposing the mandatory life sentence for murder, Mr Justice Carney sentenced Wells to four years for the assault on Mrs Dunne and three for assaulting Mr White, the sentences to run concurrently. The judge said the convicted man was entitled to credit for his guilty plea on the assault charges. He backdated the sentences to September 18th, 2001.

The court heard evidence that Wells had four previous convictions, one for possession of an axe and two for possession of a knife at the couple's flat in September 2001.

During his trial the court had heard that Wells launched a frenzied attack on Ms Dunne. As she lay dying on a blood-soaked couch, he placed a photograph of himself and their baby in her arms.

He left the flat and went to Kathleen Dunne's home intending to kill her, too, but was confronted by Joseph White in the hallway. Wells stabbed both of them before running off.