Killer who pleaded guilty to murder had 32 convictions before he stabbed neighbour to death

Owen Maughan, of Dun Saithne Avenue, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, stabbed and bludgeoned neighbour Christy Hall (65) to death at his home in Dun Saithne Green, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin between November 23 and 24, 2021.

Maughan’s pre-trial hearing, which commenced before Mr Justice Paul McDermott at the Central Criminal Court on Friday, had been expected to last two-and-a half weeks.

However, on Friday afternoon Maughan indicated he wished to be arraigned and entered a plea of guilty to the single charge on the indictment of murdering dad-of-three Mr Hall.

At the time of Christy’s murder, Maughan was already well known to gardai in Balbriggan.

A court hearing in July 2022 heard how five months before the attack on Christy, Maughan had stolen a €700 copper cylinder from a local hardware store

Maughan pleaded guilty to theft at Chadwicks, Turvey Business Park, Donabate on May 18, 2021 and was sentenced to three months in prison.

Garda Aidan Fogarty said he received a call from management at the store on May 19 to report a theft the previous day.

The garda viewed CCTV and identified the accused wearing a hi-visibility jacket entering a back store area and taking a copper cylinder valued at €723.18.

Maughan was arrested by appointment and charged with the offence.

At that stage, Maughan was said to have 32 previous convictions, including four for theft.

On a previous occasion, Maughan was jailed for a month for threatening to break a security guard’s nose at the Millfield Shopping Centre on March 26, 2020.

He had previously been barred from the supermarket and when security reminded him of this, he became irate and threatened to break the security guard’s nose.

As this incident was taking place, another member of the security team came over and Maughan was extremely abusive to him.

During an inquest into Christy Hall’s death in 2022, evidence was given that he had died as a result of stab wounds and blunt force trauma.

Previously, a relative paid tribute to Christy as a generous soul who would do anything for anyone, including giving you the last euro in his pocket.

“Christy wouldn’t have much money as he lived off his disability payment, but he’d happily give you the last euro out of his pocket,” she said.

Originally from Garristown, Christy, a former employee of Dublin County Council, lived in Whitechapel in Clonsilla for a period before moving to Balbriggan following an accident 20 years before his death.

“He wasn’t expected to pull through after the accident. But he did pull through after a long period on life support. After that, he wasn’t able to work anymore,” the relative said.

“He wasn’t able to manage stairs because the head injury affected his balance and that was why he was given the house he was in.

“He had two daughters and a son and Christy adored them. He was really gentle and easy-going.

“He just couldn’t see any fault in anyone. If anyone was short he’d say ‘go on there and take that’. He’d give money to anyone if they needed it.

“No-one could ever say a bad word about him. He adored his kids. As long as they were happy, he was happy.”

Hitting out at Christy’s killer, the relative said at the time: “Christy was one of those people who locked up early.

“So he would have had to unlock that door from the inside to let that person in and he wouldn’t have done that unless he knew who he was opening the door to.

“And that’s the horrible part of it. Because he would have opened the door delighted to see this person.

“But that animal came for a different reason.”

Following Maughan’s guilty plea on Friday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott directed the preparation of a victim impact report and remanded Maughan in custody until July 8, when it is expected that he will be sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment.