Chinese man jailed for life for double murder

A 25-year-old Chinese national has been jailed for life after a jury in the Central Criminal Court convicted him of the double murder of two of his friends in Dublin in March 2001.

Mr Yu Jie (aged 25) with a last address at McKee Avenue, Finglas, denied the murder of 19-year-olds Mr Yue Feng and Ms Liu Qing in an apartment at Blackhall Square, North King Street, Dublin, at times between March 12th and March 14th 2001.

But by a unanimous verdict reached shortly before 4pm today, a jury of six women and five men found Yu Jie guilty of the double murder.

His trial, which reached 60 days today, was the longest in Irish legal history. After the verdict he remained impassive but joked and smiled with his lawyers and with translators shortly afterwards.

Yu Jie strangled the couple on March 12th and returned in the early hours of March 14th to set fire to their bodies.

The jury retired shortly before 4pm on Friday. After their verdicts today, Mr Justice Henry Abbott excused them from further jury service for life.

Sentencing Yu Jie, Mr Justice Abbott imposed two mandatory life sentences for the two counts of murder and refused leave to appeal.

One of the original 12 members of the jury passed away during the course of the 60-day trial, and 11 jurors remained to decide verdicts. When they emerged from the jury room today, one of the jurors was crying and all of the rest looked drained and shattered.

There were no relatives of either of the victims or the accused present in court for the verdicts.