THE prosecution case against five men and a teenager charged with the murder of a father-of-seven at a funeral in Tralee described the “phenomenal pathos and tragedy of this case” where one of the accused men is a younger brother of the deceased.
“Thomas Dooley, the deceased, had not offered the slightest provocation. He had not opened his mouth or raised his hand. It was carried out with murderous ferocity and murderous intent.”
Mr Kelly said prejudice against the Travelling Community was an ‘elephant in the room’, but the DPP wanted no such prejudice in the jury’s consideration of the evidence in this trial.
Five men and one teenager pleaded not guilty to the murder of 43-year-old Tom Dooley at a funeral at Rath Cemetery in Tralee as the judge advised those called for jury service that the case could go on until the end of July.
Mr Kelly said in his opening speech that what he was saying was not itself evidence, but an outline of what he expected the prosecution evidence would be.
“What cannot be disputed is that Thomas Dooley was a thoroughly decent man, a loving husband and father [of seven children],” he said. “On October 5, 2022, he was at the funeral of Bridget O’Brien, and this killing took place at her funeral. She was well known, well liked, and well regarded in the town of Tralee and there was a large crowd attending at that funeral. There was a large group of people waiting for the cortege [to arrive at the cemetery].
“The Dooley family — Thomas and his wife and their four youngest children [aged eight to 15] — were there at the time. They parked at Kelleher’s garage, directly across the road from the cemetery. They arrived having not been to the church. Within a matter of moments, he was set upon by males, most of whom were armed.
Mr Kelly SC referred in particular to a spinal injury resulting in spinal shock, a stab wound to Mr Dooley’s thigh and a ‘chop’ wound to his right arm, measuring 25cm. He said the deceased man’s wife Siobhán suffered a savage wound to her back, resulting in one of the defendants being charged with causing her serious harm.
“Siobhán and her children fled the cemetery within seconds of the attack… There was little enough hope for him [the deceased] from the moments after this attack. He was pronounced dead within an hour.
“It is not the prosecution case that I can say whose hand was on the blade when it was driven into Thomas Dooley’s back, whose hand was on the blade that inflicted the chop wound. We don’t say we can identify that hand. We say we can identify the men acting as a single murderous gang. They carried out their role side by side, cheek by jowl.”
The trial opened before Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork. The jury, including three substitute members, consists of 13 men and two women. Swearing in of the jury was completed today in a case expected to last until the end of July. The defendants were arraigned individually and each one replied not guilty to the murder of 43-year-old Tom Dooley from Hazelwood Drive, Killarney, at New Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, on October 5, 2022.
Five defendants in the case — all with the surname Dooley — Patrick, aged 36, from Arbutus Grove, Killarney; Thomas, aged 43, from the halting site, Carrigrohane Rd, Cork; Thomas Jnr, aged 21, from the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork; Michael, aged 29, of the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork; and Daniel, aged 42, of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, face trial, as does the sixth defendant who is a teenager. Patrick is the brother of the late Tom Dooley.
Thomas Dooley Jnr, aged 21, also faces the second charge that he intentionally or recklessly caused serious harm to Siobhán Dooley, the wife of the deceased man. There was also a not guilty plea in respect of this count.
