Graham Dwyer appeal against murder conviction may be heard in autumn

The Court of Justice of the European Union's decision that Ireland's system of retaining metadata and allowing gardaí to access it breached EU law gave the green light for Dwyer's appeal

Graham Dwyer (pictured), a Cork-born architect with an address at Foxrock in Dublin, was convicted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in 2015 of the murder of Elaine O'Hara. File picture: Collins Courts

Graham Dwyer's appeal against his conviction for the murder of childcare worker Elaine O'Hara could be heard in the autumn of this year, the Court of Appeal said this morning.

Dwyer (49) was handed a significant boost in April when the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the indiscriminate retention of mobile phone data for use in criminal investigations is a breach of EU law. Phone data was a crucial part of the evidence against Dwyer as it was used to track his movements and contacts with Ms O'Hara in the lead-up to and aftermath of her disappearance in August 2012.