One of the men found guilty of the murder of Thomas Dooley in Rath cemetery in Tralee is appealing his conviction.
43-year-old Thomas Dooley from Ballyspillane in Killarney was killed in front of his wife and young children whilst attending a burial at Rath cemetery on October 5th 2022.
Five men and one teenager were convicted of the murder after a Central Criminal Court trial.
One of those five, 44-year-old Daniel Dooley of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, is now appealing his murder conviction.
Daniel Dooley was one of six defendants – including a teenage boy – who were found guilty of murder by a jury who deliberated for nearly 21 hours over five days at the Central Criminal Court in Cork.
It was the prosecution case that Mr Dooley died when he was violently attacked by a group armed with bladed weapons and acting with “focused and murderous ferocity” in broad daylight.
Launching an appeal against Daniel Dooley’s conviction, Dominic McGinn SC, representing Daniel Dooley, said his core argument was that the case should have been withdrawn from the jury at the close of the prosecution case as a result of unfairness.
Mr McGinn said the evidence against Daniel Dooley was “significantly different” to the evidence against the other accused at the time.
He said the only evidence that existed against Daniel Dooley was a segment of CCTV that showed him leaving his house, entering a van carrying an implement which was “long and stick like”.
He said there was no evidence any such implement was used on the deceased.
Mr McGinn said Daniel Dooley was named by the murdered man’s wife, Siobhan Dooley, as one of the men who attacked her husband.
She had initially identified a different person, he said, but during the course of the investigation it was established that this man was in a different location at the time and could not have been at the graveyard.
Mr McGinn also argued the trial judge should have discharged the jury, and did not charge the jury correctly in terms of Siobhan Dooley’s credibility, the inferences that could be drawn, and the legal principle which allowed all six men to be charged with murder.
In response Dean Kelly, for the DPP, acknowledged that Siobhan Dooley’s evidence was “unexpected” but said it was properly handled by the trial judge, who allowed the defence extra time to prepare for cross-examination.
Mr Kelly also highlighted Daniel Dooley’s failure to answer questions put to him by gardaí about his presence at the cemetery and at the service station.
Mr Justice John Edwards said the court would reserve judgement in the case.
The six men convicted of murder were younger brother of the late Mr Dooley, Patrick Dooley (36) with an address at Arbutus Grove, Killarney, Mr Dooley’s cousin and brother-in-law Thomas Dooley Senior (43) and that man’s son, Thomas Dooley Junior (21), along with the victim’s cousins Michael Dooley (29), all of the Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork and Daniel Dooley (42) of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, as well as a male teenager. They had all pleaded not (NOT) guilty to murdering Thomas Dooley at Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, Co Kerry on October 5, 2022.