Court dismisses murder appeal

The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed a Dublin man's appeal against his conviction for the murder of "the wrong man" at a caravan park on Easter Sunday more than three years ago.

Stephen Delaney (aged 25) claimed that his conviction for the murder of Anthony Cullen was unsafe on grounds including that the judge at his trial at the Central Criminal Court had erred by refusing to allow the jury at his trial that he was provoked into stabbing his victim.

Today the three Judge CCA in dismissing the appeal held that Delaney's conviction was safe.

Delaney of Belclare Grove, Ballymun admitted unlawfully killing Mr Cullen (aged 37) by stabbing him in the back three times at Burmah Caravan Park, Rosslare on April 8, 2007.

Delaney denied murdering him, insisting that Mr Cullen's friend, Aidan Duggan, had provoked him to such an extent that he lost control. He claimed he then stabbed the wrong man due to poor lighting in the caravan park.

However a jury unanimously found Delaney guilty of murder. Following the verdict, the trial judge Mr Justice George Bermingham imposed the mandatory life sentence on Delaney.