Elaine Stenson

An “institutionalized” inmate convicted of murdering a fellow inmate by luring him to a cell, knocking him to the ground and stomping on his head in a “vicious and unprovoked” assault has been jailed for life.

Sentencing repeat offender David Dunne, 40, on Monday, Judge Mary Ellen Ring noted that “no explanation for the decision to kill Robert O’Connor has ever been given and that ‘the violence was completely unwarranted'”.

At his trial at the Central Criminal Court last month, David Dunne, of a last address in Summerhill, Dublin 1, pleaded not guilty to the murder of O’Connor (34) on July 29, 2022, at Mountjoy Prison, North Circular Road, Dublin 7.

However, a jury took less than three hours to unanimously convict him.

The prosecution case was that CCTV footage played as evidence at the trial showed Dunne luring the victim into his cell. The prison officer on duty said he heard a shout followed by a shout of “No, no” which was followed by silence.

He gave evidence that he saw Dunne stamp on the victim’s head more than once.

Prison officers called an ambulance which took O’Connor to the Mater Hospital, where he received life support. He did not regain consciousness and was pronounced dead three days later.

The court heard that David Dunne has amassed 123 convictions since 1998. At the time of the murder, he was serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for robbery and other offenses and was due to be released just days before the attack on Mr. O’Connor.

Miska Hanahoe BL, for the defendant, told the court Dunne was placed in state care when he was a very young child, had been in and out of care all his life and was now institutionalised.

She added that Dunne “wants to make it clear that he accepts that he is responsible for Robert’s death but that he did not intend to kill him.”

Hanahoe asked if Dunne could serve his sentence in Dublin as his mother was unwell and unable to travel to visit him.

Delivering his sentence, Justice Ring noted that Dunne had had a long and difficult life. She imposed the mandatory life sentence for O’Connor’s murder, adding that the victim’s family will “serve their own life sentence” because of Dunne’s crimes.

“When violence takes a child from a parent, no explanation is enough. Robert O’Connor was in prison to pay his debt to society. David Dunne had his right to life taken away,” Justice Ring said.

Ms Justice Ring noted that the family’s selfless decision to donate O’Connor’s organs spoke volumes for the kind of person he was, noting that it brought some comfort to his family to know that a part of him lives on even if others.

The judge also noted that Dunne’s mother had previously said that if help was not given to her son there would be dire consequences, but now it was O’Connor and his family who had paid the price. She said O’Connor’s family were completely innocent in this “sad, sad, sad event”.

Ms Justice Ring said she would impose the life sentence from the date Dunne was remanded in custody in this matter on September 1, 2023, and wished the victim’s family well as they move forward.

Offer impact description

A victim impact statement on behalf of the victim’s sister Kylie Kinahan was read out by Michael Delaney, SC, prosecuting.

She wrote that Mr O’Connor was a loving, caring brother and would never leave a room without a “hug and a kiss”. She said that when she last spoke to him he was full of chatter and in good spirits and said he loved her.

Kinahan said the sight of her “baby brother” lifeless in the Mater’s hospital still haunts her and described how she suffered nightmares knowing how he ended up in intensive care.

She described watching CCTV footage of her brother walking and behaving normally before he entered the cell where he was killed and how she wanted to “jump into the screen” and tell him to run but she couldn’t.

She said Robert was a loving uncle to her children and she was disappointed he would never have children of his own.

Ms Kinahan said her brother was taken away in a brutal, unnecessary way that meant there was a part of her that would never heal and for that she said she will “never forgive”. She said she wakes up crying and gasping for air.

The deceased’s father Leo O’Connor described how as a child Robert loved fishing and family picnics in St Anne’s Park in Dublin and how much he loved horses as a child. He said he still talks to Robert every day and looks at his photograph from when he gets up with a morning cup of coffee.

He said he still can’t believe his son is gone, adding: “I miss him, I miss him, I miss him every day.”

Previous evidence

The trial heard that 32-year-old Robert O’Connor was given a custodial sentence on July 27, 2022, and was returned from court to Mountjoy that evening.

At about 7pm, O’Connor was assaulted in his cell by a number of other prisoners, leaving him with a bloody nose and an injury to one eye. He was then placed in shelter for a period and moved to C landing.

Two days later he went to the C2 landing of the prison where CCTV footage showed him entering Dunne’s cell followed by Dunne and three other men.

Prison officers responded quickly when they heard a commotion and one told the trial he saw Dunne stamp O’Connor’s head more than once, while another officer saw the defendant kick the victim in the head.

The victim was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on August 1, when brainstem testing showed no activity.

Chief State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan said O’Connor died of multiple blunt force trauma injuries associated with bruising and abrasions to his head, torso, legs and arms. He had also suffered a broken nose.

Dr Mulligan said the blunt force trauma caused rotational force which led to nerve cells in the brain breaking.

In his first garda interview, Dunne read from a prepared statement in which he said: “I’m sorry for his family, I really am. I think about it every day and night since this happened. It kills me inside because he was a good friend to everyone who knew him. I’m really sorry Robbie yes to you and your family,” he said.

He claimed he just wanted a “chat” with Mr O’Connor but once they were in the cell Mr O’Connor punched him twice. He initially only admitted hitting back and denied stamping on Mr O’Connor’s head. He said he did not want to kill O’Connor and claimed he had hit him with a “rabbit punch”.

The defendant argued that he did not intend to kill O’Connor and that he was acting in self-defense when he inflicted multiple blunt force trauma injuries to the decedent’s head, torso, arms and legs.

The prosecutor argued that Dunne’s final account “evolved” until the lawyer said in his final interview that Dunne showed that a “stamp” as it was submitted could easily have caused the injuries sustained by O’Connor.

In his closing speech, prosecutor Michael Delaney SC described Dunne’s account as “self-serving” and lacking in credibility.

He accused Dunne of a “vicious and unprovoked assault” and said CCTV evidence suggested “an element of co-ordination” in the interactions visible between Mr Dunne and three other prisoners in the minutes before the fatal encounter.

Counsel said the footage suggested that when Mr O’Connor arrived at Dunne’s wing of the prison, the accused signaled to one of those inmates. When Mr O’Connor and the accused entered the accused’s cell, Mr Delaney said the others followed as if they “knew something was going on”.

Mr Delaney said the CCTV undermined Dunne’s claim that he invited the deceased into his cell for a “friendly chat” or that he was acting in self-defence after being attacked by the deceased.

“The objective, reliable evidence shows that Dunne lured Robert O’Connor into that cell for the purpose of attacking him,” Delaney said.