Wife tells murder trial she desperately tried to protect husband during attack by armed men in Kerry cemetery

Siobhan Dooley told the Central Criminal Court that as her husband was repeatedly struck, he pleaded with her to run to safety with their four youngest children.

Ms Dooley told the jury that her husband, Thomas Dooley (43), was attacked metres from her and her four youngest children just minutes after they had entered the Tralee cemetery to attend the funeral of a family friend.

One child screamed to her that her daddy’s blood was being splashed everywhere as the men attacked him with a variety of weapons including one that she said was like something you would see in “movies”.

One weapon was described as shiny while another was rusty.

Ms Dooley told the trial that one assailant said to her husband during the fatal attack that: “You are a big man now, you are a big man now.”

She said she desperately tried to squeeze herself between the attackers and her husband in a bid to protect him only for one of the attackers to say: “Take her out too, get rid of her.”

Ms Dooley said that one of the attackers was Patrick Dooley, her husband’s younger brother, and that he was “grinning” as the attack commenced.

Five men and a teenager have denied the murder of Mr Dooley.

The father of seven died after suffering critical injuries while attending the funeral of a family friend at New Rath cemetery outside Tralee on October 5, 2022.

Six defendants have gone on trial for the murder of Mr Dooley at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Cork, with Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring being told the hearing could last for up to two months.

All six, who range in age from their late teens to 42 years old, denied the murder charge when arraigned.

The defendants are Daniel Dooley (42) of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry; Thomas Dooley Snr (42) and Thomas Dooley Jnr (20) both of the Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork; Michael Dooley (28) of the Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork; Patrick Dooley (35) of Arbutus Grove Killarney, Co Kerry and a male teenager.

Thomas Dooley Jnr has also denied a second charge of recklessly causing serious harm to Siobhan Dooley on October 5, 2022 at New Rath cemetery in Tralee.

The trial was told that Patrick Dooley is the younger brother of the deceased.

Thomas Dooley Snr, Daniel Dooley and Michael Dooley, all of whom are brothers, are first cousins to the deceased.

An extended jury of 15 members was sworn in on Tuesday to hear the case given the expected duration of the trial.

Ms Dooley, who gave evidence on the third day of the trial, outlined the fatal incident involving her husband of 24 years.

She said they entered the cemetery to attend the funeral and, minutes later, she said she saw four men moving towards her husband.

“I told him to run, but he said: ‘No, I have nothing to run for.’”

She said she saw Thomas Snr and Patrick walking towards her husband and they were grinning.

Ms Dooley realised that both were carrying weapons, one of which was “a big chunk of a yoke”.

She said that Thomas Snr told the deceased: “You are a big man now.”

Then a number of other men and a teenager arrived from another direction. Her husband was quickly surrounded.

She said she desperately tried to protect her four children, the youngest of whom she had to push out of the way of one attempted blow at her husband.

“I got a bang,” she said as she realised she was injured.

She said she scraped with her nails at the face and eyes of one attacker in a bid to protect her husband.

Ms Dooley was then struck.

“I got another bang and I was pegged to the ground. They (the attackers) were all just gathered around him.

“He (her husband) just turned his head to me and said: ‘Run, just run.’ They were hitting him with everything. They were hitting him with the weapons they had. Blood was squirting everywhere.”

Ms Dooley said her eight-year-old daughter started roaring at the sight of her father’s blood.

Two of the attackers were striking him on the legs with blood spraying everywhere. She said one of the attackers was laughing as the assault proceeded.

“They were actually pushing each other to get in at him (her husband). (One said): ‘Shove over – give me a chance.’ I had to get my children out. I ran with my children.”

Ms Dooley said that one of the armed attackers briefly followed her before turning back to the assault on her husband.

She ran across the road into a shop by a garage and started screaming for help.

“I started roaring at the garda to get help because they were going to kill him.”

She said minutes before the attack commenced, one of the assailants calmly took off his jacket and placed it over a nearby headstone.

In outlining what the State said it will present during the trial, prosecutor Dean Kelly SC said Thomas Dooley of Hazelwood Drive, Killarney, Co Kerry was attacked minutes after he entered the cemetery and directly in front of his wife, Siobhan, and his four youngest children, ranging in age from eight to 15 years.

Mr Kelly, who stressed that his case outline was not evidence, said the deceased had not done anything by either word or deed to provoke the attack.

He described Mr Dooley as “a decent man, devoted to his family and who put his wife and children first”.

“Within minutes of entering the cemetery, Thomas Dooley was set upon and attacked by a group of males, some of whom were armed with bladed weapons,” he said.

Mr Kelly said that Dooley sustained savage injuries including severe stab wounds.

One involved a 6.5cm-deep wound to his back which damaged both his back bone and his spine. This likely caused shock and spinal collapse.

Another stab wound to his thigh was 10.5cm in size and cut Mr Dooley’s femoral artery.

He also sustained “a chop wound” to his arm which was 25cm in length.

It is the State case that the thigh wound with the femoral artery cut was critical to Mr Dooley’s death.

Mr Kelly said that Siobhan Ms was also seriously injured. Both she and her four children fled the graveyard in a bid to get help.

“In the time it took Mr Dooley’s eight-year-old child to cross the road to get help, Thomas Dooley was already close to death.”

Mr Kelly said it was the prosecution case that the matter involved joint enterprise between the defendants.

“Thomas Dooley was attacked by a group of men who set upon him with focussed ferocity,” he said.

The planned attack, he said, was “most brazenly” conducted in broad daylight, in a cemetery packed with mourners and directly in front of Mr Dooley’s wife and children.

“This was not a fight… Mr Dooley did not offer any provocation.”

The prosecutor also said the alleged attack was notable for its “violence and savagery” and that Mr Dooley had been set upon with “murderous ferocity” by the group.

Mr Kelly told the jury that the family were from the Travelling community and that “the elephant in the room” was that this community could be subjected to prejudice in Ireland. He said that any such prejudice could have no place in the courtroom for the hearing.

Up to 200 witnesses could potentially be called to offer evidence during the trial.

Legal counsel for the six defendants include Brian McInerney SC, Tom Creed SC, Vincent Henaghan SC, Ray Boland SC, Brendan Grehan SC and Jane Hyland SC.

Solicitors instructed in the case include Padraig O’Connell, Pat Mann, Frank Buttimer and John Cashell.

The trial continues tomorrow.