# Central Criminal Court
Last month
May 2023
# Central Criminal Court
Five family members guilty of over 100 counts of sexual abuse against child relatives
The five defendants made no reaction as the verdicts were handed down in court.
# Courts
Woman's guilty plea to manslaughter of four-year-old boy rejected, murder trial to proceed
The 30-year-old woman is charged with the murder of the boy in the south west of the country in March 2021.
# Courts
Christina Anderson bears 'zero' culpability for stabbing during psychotic episode, court told
The jury heard that a central issue was whether Anderson’s actions when she repeatedly stabbed Gareth Kelly were driven by mental illness or by cannabis intoxication.
# extended sentence
Man who sexually assaulted his estranged wife has sentence increased
Justice George Birmingham said the court would quash the existing sentence which was due to expire tomorrow and re-sentence the defendant.
# Central Criminal Court
Man who raped his daughters, sisters and niece is jailed for life
Richard O’Brien (61) denied all the offences but was convicted unanimously by a jury following a trial earlier this year.
# Central Criminal Court
Woman testifies her father and brothers raped her weekly for years in child sex abuse trial
The alleged offences occurred between 1999 and 2005 in various locations around the country.
April
April 2023
# Limerick
Law grad jailed for rape of woman shortly after they engaged in consensual sex
The court heard that it was at this point she withdrew her consent and the man continued sexual penetration without consent.
# Central Criminal Court
Man jailed for nine years for fatal stabbing in Clare nightclub
Nathan O’Neill had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Jamie Higgins in the early hours of 18 March 2018.
# Courts
Trial date set for man accused of murdering Lisa Thompson
Brian McHugh, of Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun, will go on trial on 26 February 2024.
# Central Criminal Court
Woman who stabbed dad to death on 94th birthday found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity
Two psychiatrists said the accused did not know that what she was doing was wrong.
# Central Criminal Court
Garda Horkan 'had so much more living to do', family says as Silver given life sentence
Silver (46) was found guilty of capital murder by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last month.
# Donegal
‘I miss my Mammy so much’: Family of Jasmine McMonagle deliver victim impact statements
At a sentencing hearing today, the victim’s mother said that when it came to Richard Burke, ‘the only word that comes to mind is evil’.
# Central Criminal Court
Man jailed for hiring 'unhinged' hitman to kill couple having 'online affair' with his wife
Bryan Kennedy ‘hatched the plan’ to kill his wife’s online friends with a man he knew to be ‘unhinged’ and who had previous convictions.
# Central Criminal Court
Jury fails to reach verdicts in trial of three men accused of raping woman in car park
It was the State’s case that the then 17 year old girl was raped in turn by each of the accused in a car at a hotel car park.
March
March 2023
# Trial verdict
Man acquitted of murder on self defence grounds after stabbing 24 year old in his house
Member’s of the dead man’s family expressed their shock and upset after the verdict was delivered.
# multyfarnham
Woman accused of murdering her two children in Westmeath car fire to go on trial next year
Thelma, 5, and Michael, 2, suffered fatal injuries when the vehicle they were in went on fire last September.
# Central Criminal Court
Man accused of the murder of Lisa Thompson sent forward for trial
A woman accused of impeding the prosecution of the alleged murderer has also been sent forward for trial.
# Courts
Security guard gives evidence in trial of men accused of rape in car park
The offences are alleged to have occurred on 20 December 2017 at a hotel car park in the Leinster area.
# Central Criminal Court
Murder accused tells court two armed men forced him to hide victim's remains under bush
Ionut Cosmin Nicholescu is charged with the murder of Frankie Dunne between 27 December and 28 December 2019.
# Central Criminal Court
Woman allegedly raped by three men in car park tells trial she didn't think she'd 'have to shout no'
The offences are alleged to have occurred on 20 December 2017 at a hotel car park in the Leinster area.
# Donegal
Mother-of-two Jasmine McMonagle met a 'brutal death', murder trial hears
Richard Burke (32) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Jasmine McMonagle but guilty to manslaughter.
# Mayo
Polish man accused of murdering Michael McDonagh to go on trial this afternoon
Matusz Batiuk (33), is charged with murdering Michael McDonagh (24) at the housing estate in Co Mayo in 2020.
# Central Criminal Court
Jury discharged after Valerie French Kilroy murder trial encounters 'unexpected complex matter'
‘No one is at fault, it is not something that could have been foreseen or dealt with’, the jury were told.
# Central Criminal Court
Woman allegedly raped by three men in car park tells trial she believed she was 'going for a drive'
The woman said she was clear from the outset that she had been raped but was in shock.
# Courts
Jury begins deliberations in trial of Stephen Silver for capital murder of Garda Colm Horkan
Silver has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Garda Horkan in 2020, but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
# Cork
Cork murder trial hears how man searching for cat discovered dismembered body of victim
Cosmin Nicholescu, with an address in Romania, is charged with the murder of Francis Dunne on a date unknown between December 27 and December 28 2019.
# Central Criminal Court
Woman and her partner given lengthy sentences for rape and abuse of her two young children
Mr Justice Keane said these were ‘deplorable crimes against very young children’ by those charged with their protection.
# Fermoy
'I thought I was going to die': Woman speaks of moment she was sexually assaulted in park
The woman was attacked in St Colman’s Park in Fermoy.
# Murder Trial
Trial hears that Valerie French Kilroy died from a head injury, strangulation and a stab wound
The trial has also heard that James Kilroy demonstrated to gardai in an interview how he had killed his wife and at one point sketched the knife he had used.
# Courts
Man (60s) pleads guilty to murdering wife in 2020 samurai sword attack at their Dublin home
William Eagers pleaded guilty to the murder of mother-of-two Jean Eagers in their home on 21 June 2020.
# stephen silver
'No evidence' that accused in Garda Colm Horkan shooting had mental health relapse, court told
A consultant psychiatrist told the Central Criminal Court that Stephen Silver is an “unreliable historian” of his mental health difficulties.
# Courts
Psychiatric nurse jailed for sexually molesting his daughter and repeatedly raping his wife
Martin Doyle (53) was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in prison.
# Limerick
Man who threw acid in woman's face and set fire to her home jailed for 11 and a half years
Mr Justice Michael McGrath described the incident as a ‘sustained, vicious, prolonged and frightening assault’.
This year
2023
# Courts
Garda Colm Horkan 'shot himself accidentally', murder accused Stephen Silver told detectives
Silver has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Garda Horkan in 2020.
# Courts
Murder accused Stephen Silver told detectives Garda Colm Horkan went for gun after 'losing struggle'
The jury at the Central Criminal Court were shown a video recording of Silver’s first interview the day after his arrest.
# Court
Man charged with murder of Garda Horkan was roaring in the street about snipers, trial hears
Stephen Silver has pleaded not guilty to capital murder.
# Courts
Man who repeatedly raped woman he met on dating website jailed for nine years
The judge said Bajo Ziflai had shown no remorse or acknowledged the harm he caused to the woman on the night in question.
# Courts
Man who repeatedly sexually assaulted his then-partner jailed for five-and-a-half years
The judge said Derek Reid’s actions were an atrocious violation of the victim.
Last year
2022
# Central Criminal Court
Louth teenager gets three year detention for repeated abuse of his niece and cousin
He was 14 at the time of the offending, while the girls were aged between nine and 10.
# Central Criminal Court
Remorseless ‘persistent child sex abuser' who offended over almost three decades is jailed for 13 years
The 71-year-old man first sexually abused his own daughter, then a babysitter and finally his stepdaughter, between 1979 and 2007.
