A youth whose sentencing for a fatal stabbing has been delayed while he undergoes brain surgery will be sentenced next month after the judge said she the victim’s grieving family needs “finality”.

Ms Justice Eileen Creedon at the Central Criminal Court added that the offender, who was found guilty of manslaughter in 2017 for stabbing 17-year-old Dovydas Jenkas to death, can expect a custodial sentence and “should prepare for that.”

At a brief hearing today, counsel for the teenager Michael Bowman SC asked for the sentence hearing to be put back for three months while his client recovers from his latest ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Aaron Brady. Credit: Collins)

The man accused of murdering Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe gave gardai an untrue account of where he had been when questioned the day after the shooting, his barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

The trial of Aaron Brady also heard that a garda inspector noticed a “conflict” between what Mr Brady told him and an account given by the man he said he had spent much of that day with. Inspector John Moroney said the times the two men gave “didn’t marry” and he also found it “strange” that Mr Brady said he did not ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Aaron Brady. Credit: Collins)

Tests on various items revealed no DNA linking the man accused of murdering Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe to the scene of the fatal shooting, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Dr Edward Connolly today told prosecution counsel, Lorcan Staines SC, that he and other scientists at Forensic Science Ireland’s laboratories in Phoenix Park, Dublin examined dozens of samples and items from the scene including swabs taken from various cars, a hammer taken from one of the cars, cigarette butts, a handbag, car keys, chewing gum, gloves and a €2 coin.

He also tested items taken from ….read more

(Pictured: Witness Det Gda Seamus O’Donnell. Credit: Collins)

The shot that killed Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was fired from between six and seven feet from his head, a ballistics expert has told the Central Criminal Court.

Detective Garda Seamus O’Donnell showed the jury a semi-automatic Beretta A301 12-gauge shotgun that he said is similar to the one used to shoot Det Gda Donohoe.

He demonstrated how the shotgun is loaded and fired and told the jury that he fired a number of shots at targets from different ranges using the same type of cartridge that was found beside Det Gda Donohoe’s body. ….read more

A murder trial witness has said she recognised a car that was traveling “in an awful hurry” on the night a garda was shot dead during a credit union robbery.

Frances Malone was giving evidence in the trial of Aaron Brady, who denies the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.

She told Lorcan Staines SC, for the prosecution, that she was driving home with her husband some time after 9pm on January 25, 2013 when she saw two cars coming towards her “very very fast” near the Ballymascanlon roundabout, a short distance from Lordship Credit Union where Det Gda Donohoe ….read more

Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe’s wife identified his body 90 minutes after he was shot dead by armed raiders during a credit union robbery, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Inspector Darren Kirwan told Lorcan Staines SC, for the prosecution, that at 21.45 on January 25, 2013 he became aware that Det Gda Donohoe had been shot and he immediately went to the deceased’s home to visit his wife Caroline Donohoe, who is also a garda.

Insp Kirwan said he had known both Caroline and the deceased for 17 years and he described Det Gda Donohoe as a “close friend” as well ….read more

(Pictured: Witness Ms Bernadette McShane. Credit: Collins)

A credit union volunteer broke down crying today as she told a murder trial of the moment she thought a robber was going to kill her after she witnessed the fatal shooting of a garda.

Bernadette McShane was sitting in her car when she heard a loud bang and saw Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe fall to the ground. She said: “When I saw the man running towards me I thought he was coming to kill me because I had seen too much.”

Aaron Brady (28) from New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh has pleaded not guilty to ….read more

A former detective garda feared for his life when an armed robber pointed a gun at him and shouted: “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to fucking shoot you,” during a raid that left his colleague dead from a gunshot wound to the head, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Joe Ryan also described to the court the moment he realised his partner Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe had been fatally wounded: “I could see a serious wound to his face. He was lying in a pool of blood. I could see brain matter on the tarmac. I knew he was ….read more

(Pictured: Defence Counsel Mr Michael Bowman. Credit: Collins)

A teenager who stabbed his mother’s ex-boyfriend to death during a domestic row was trying to protect “the most important person in his life”, a barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

Michael Bowman SC said his client Alexander Whelan “sprang to his mother’s defence” having previously seen the deceased Bruno Rolandi assault his mother. He made a “split second decision” which counsel said has had tragic consequences for him and the Rolandi family.

The court heard that Mr Rolandi was a violent heroin-user and that a former partner had described him as an alcoholic. ….read more

(Pictured: Mr Aaron Brady. Credit: Collins)

The jury in a capital murder trial has been shown footage of the moment a garda was shot dead in the car park of a credit union during an armed robbery.

Detective Garda Gareth Kenna said the footage shows a vehicle blocking the exit to the credit union car park while four men emerge. One of them, he said, is carrying what seems to be a shotgun and, “appears to recoil and appears almost to hit the ground.”

It is the prosecution’s case that Detective Sergeant Adrian Donohoe died from a single shotgun blast.

Aaron Brady ….read more