Dundon brothers lose appeal against threat to kill convictions

Notorious criminal brothers Wayne and John Dundon have had appeals against their convictions for making threats to kill dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Wayne Dundon, aged 37, of Lenihan Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, was found guilty by the Special Criminal Court in 2012 of threatening Alice Collins that he would kill or cause serious harm to her sons, Gareth and Jimmy Collins, at Hyde Avenue, Limerick on September 30, 2010.

The non-jury court also found him guilty of the intimidation of potential prosecution witnesses Alice and April Collins with the intention of obstructing the course of justice on the same occasion.

Wayne Dundon’s younger brother, John Dundon, aged 33, with an address at Hyde Rd, Limerick, had also been found guilty of threatening to kill April Collins at Hyde Rd on the weekend of April 3 and 4, 2011.

Following their convictions, the three-judge Special Criminal Court sentenced Wayne to six years imprisonment and John to five-and-a-half years imprisonment on April 18, 2012.

In a judgment delivered yesterday the Court of Appeal dismissed the brothers’ appeals on all grounds and affirmed their convictions.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the Court of Appeal had been forced to conclude that it was being asked by Wayne Dundon’s lawyers to substitute a view on the facts for the view formed by the trial judges who had heard the evidence. The Court of Appeal was “not prepared to do that,” he said.

There was evidence, which if accepted by the Special Criminal Court, could support Wayne Dundon’s conviction, Mr Justice Birmingham said.

It was for the court of trial to decide whether it was satisfied in relation to that evidence and in a situation where the court was so satisfied, the Court of Appeal was not in a position to intervene, he said.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Mr Justice John Edwards, commented that Wayne Dundon’s lawyers were operating on the basis that an appellant can “dip in and out of the transcripts of a trial held on another occasion at will”. The Court of Appeal “deprecates any such suggestion”, he said.

The Dundon brothers gave no reaction when the judgment was delivered. They were lead away to continue serving their prison sentences.

Wayne Dundon is also currently serving a life sentence for the revenge murder of innocent businessman Roy Collins in Limerick, on April 9, 2009.

Mr Collins’ father, Steve Collins, was believed to have been the intended target due to his involvement in a previous successful prosecution against Wayne Dundon.