Man gets life for murder in Clontarf

A man has been jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court today after pleading guilty to the murder of another man in Clontarf in Dublin last year.

Michael Downes (aged 42), of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to murdering Finbar Dennehy (aged 50), Seafield Rd, Clontarf, Dublin on a date unknown between September 24 and 26, 2007.

Det Sgt Paul Slattery of Clontarf garda station told the court that Downes and Mr Dennehy were previously acquainted.

Mr Dennehy had been employed in Cadbury’s and had retired early, before the age of 50.

Downes had travelled to Dublin on the Sunday before the murder and had arranged to meet Mr Dennehy. They socialised in pubs and returned to Mr Dennehy’s apartment that evening.

Det Sgt Slattery said that Mr Dennehy’s body was found the following Wednesday. He was “tied up elaborately on the couch, a plastic bag was tied over his head and there was a pool of blood on the floor beside him.”

Mr Dennehy died from strangulation and a stab wound to the groin.

Downes was arrested at the Inn on the Liffey, Ormond Quay that Friday.

He told gardaí that he had been with Mr Dennehy in his apartment the previous Monday and that “a dispute had arisen in relation to sex.”

Downes then got a knife from the kitchen, returned to the living-room and asked Mr Dennehy for cash. Mr Dennehy pushed him and Downes pushed back. He told gardaí that there was a struggle and that there was blood on the floor.

Downes told gardaí that he tied up Mr Dennehy on the couch, waited in the apartment and strangled him the next morning.

Reading from a victim impact statement, Mr Dennehy’s sister told the court that Finbar “never wanted to be front-page news.

“He was shy and retiring until you got to know him.

“Once he made a friend, it was for life.

“One year ago, two years after his fiftieth birthday, Finbar suffered a brutal death. Three days after that he was due to set off for a holiday in South Africa.

“He was a gentle person. Until this night, I doubt anyone was ever violent toward him.

“He died terrified and alone.

“Trusting will never be easy again for the rest of us.

“For a private family to be cast into the public spotlight having received such horrendous news is unbearable.

“This is not something we can blot out of our minds. And what are we left with? A totally pointless death and trying to live with it."

Speaking outside the Four Courts, Tim Pickering spoke on behalf of friends of the deceased.

He said: "Collectively, we wish to express our utter disgust with the manner in which the media chose to report Finbar’s death.

"Not only have we and the family the anguish of his death to contend with, but the quest of the media to sensationalise and to report totally unfounded lies about Finbar’s lifestyle and some of the circumstances surrounding his death is, to us, unforgivable. To the media, we say, shame on you."