Prisoner guilty of murdering fellow inmate

Eoin Reynolds

A Mountjoy prisoner has been convicted of murdering a fellow inmate after a jury agreed with the prosecution case that he had "lured" him into his cell, knocked him to the ground and stamped on his head in a "vicious and unprovoked" assault.

The jury of nine men and three women at the Central Criminal Court took a little less than three hours to return a unanimous verdict of guilty of murder against David Dunne (40), with a last address in Summerhill, Dublin 1.

Dunne had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert O’Connor on the 29th of July 2022 at Mountjoy Prison, North Circular Road, Dublin 7. He claimed he did not intend to kill Mr O'Connor and the jury was asked to consider whether he had an honest belief that he was acting in self-defence when he caused multiple blunt force trauma injuries to the deceased's head, torso, arms and legs.

A pathologist's report and neuropathology exam revealed that the blows to Mr O'Connor's head caused his brain to rotate, which led to the tearing of nerve cells. The injuries were consistent with stamping, punching or kicking.

Members of Mr O'Connor's family broke down in tears and embraced one another when the verdict was revealed. Dunne will face the mandatory term of life imprisonment when he is sentenced on December 16th, after Mr O'Connor's family have had a chance to speak about the impact the murder has had on their lives.

In a brief statement following the jury's verdict, a garda involved in the investigation told the court that Mr O'Connor was born in the UK to an Irish father and English mother. The family returned to Ireland when Mr O'Connor was a small child. He has one half-brother and a half-sister, while his mother died in 2008.

When he died, Mr O'Connor had been in a relationship for one year. His death, the garda said, has had a "dramatic and serious" effect on his girlfriend's health.