Jury told to deliver verdict that 'stings like a bee' in Dundalk murder trial

Alison O'Riordan

A murder accused tried to "float like a butterfly" by telling a jury that he "snapped" and was in fear for his life when he killed his allegedly abusive mother, but "on a sensible evaluation of the evidence", their verdict ought to be "to sting like a bee", a prosecution barrister has said.

Garret Baker SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, suggested that murder accused Luke Donnelly had crushed his mother's skull "like he would a common insect" and that the 62-year-old grandmother had posed no more threat to her son than that.

However, Mr Donnelly's defence counsel have argued that the accused and his mother had a "complex, sad and disturbing" relationship, and there was evidence of the deceased being prone to "sudden outbursts of violence".

Mr Donnelly (29), of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of his mother Catherine Henry at her apartment on Bridge Street in Dundalk, Co Louth on a date unknown between May 23rd and 24th, 2023.

Last week, Mr Donnelly told the jurors of being "groomed" into a life of drugs and violence by his allegedly abusive mother. The accused also told his trial that he was in fear for his life and "lost all control" when he "stomped" on his mother's head after she hit and threatened to kill him.

Under cross-examination, Mr Donnelly agreed with prosecution counsel that he had "loaded up" on a cocktail of drugs in the hours before her killing.

In his closing speech to the trial, Mr Baker said Mr Donnelly had told the jurors that he loved his mother unconditionally and continues to do so. "He fractured her skull in four places; if that is his idea of unconditional love, I'm in no rush to get on his bad side," counsel commented.

Mr Baker said that Mr Donnelly had stamped on Ms Henry's skull and also "upon her character at every available turn" in an attempt to "wriggle off the hook".

Mr Baker told the jurors that the accused, a former kickboxer, had engaged in "shadow boxing" and "danced his way through the evidence, trying to duck".

Counsel added: "Whenever he got into choppy waters he reverted to stock type responses and said he was confused, that he had a hazy memory...but when it comes to the central incident, he can recite it step by step".

"It is a mishmash and it doesn't add up. It all tastes a bit off," remarked the prosecutor.

The barrister said there were complex family dynamics in the case. "Even if what Mr Donnelly described in terms of general history is accurate, nothing could justify his actions in May 2023," counsel said however.

The barrister said Mr Donnelly's actions amounted to something closer to "summary execution" rather than anything to do with the defences of provocation and self-defence. Mr Baker suggested these defences were "contrived, manufactured and didn't tally with the real world".

In his evidence, Mr Donnelly recalled his mother coming into the bedroom of her apartment on May 23rd and asking for his key back.

The accused said he told her he was the son of God and couldn't take the controlling abuse anymore. Mr Donnelly said his mother screamed in his face that she would kill him if he left.

The accused said he closed his eyes and "waited for it to be over" as she lunged at him. "I didn't know whether it was punches or a weapon but I could feel my head and arms being hit".

At that moment, Mr Donnelly said he was in fear for his life, snapped and threw a punch, which connected with Ms Henry and spun her around. "I lost all control and proceeded to stomp, it all happened in a moment," he said, adding that he believed his mother was going to kill him.

Mr Baker invited the jurors to "pour some common sense" over the defences of provocation and self defence raised by the accused and "watch them melt away".

Mr Baker said the accused had engaged "in the blame game". "He gazes everywhere for blame but fails to look in the most obvious place of all; straight in the mirror".

Counsel submitted that the former kickboxer was "trying to float like a butterfly" when he took the stand to give evidence.

Mr Baker suggested to the panel that their verdict ought to sting like a bee, not out of any ill will towards Mr Donnelly but because on "any normal, sensible and rational evaluation of the evidence all roads take you to that point".

He pointed out that the deceased was a 62-year-old grandmother, a cancer survivor, a heavy smoker and had traces of a sleeping tablet in her system. "Let's call a spade a spade: she never had a chance," he argued.

Counsel submitted that the prosecution "say absolutely not" as to whether there was any genuine excuse in the case, which might reduce murder to manslaughter.

In summary, Mr Baker submitted that this was an "unambiguous murder".

The lawyer suggested that both defences had to be seen in context of the "scale, savagery and barbaric nature of the violence" which was meted out to Ms Henry in her own home.

In his closing address Conall MacCarthy SC, defending, said he was struck by the "emotive language" deployed by Mr Baker and submitted that jurors are asked to engage in their deliberations in a dispassionate way.

Counsel recalled that the accused's former girlfriend, Stacey Campbell, said in her evidence that Mr Donnelly and his mother had a very good relationship and that they loved each other. He said the witness had also noted that Mr Donnelly would do anything for his mother.

Mr MacCarthy added: "It's a tale of two existences. The relationship on one level was a good one and loving. On another level, it was a complex relationship; sad and disturbing in many respects".

The lawyers that around six months prior to May 23rd, Mr Donnelly began to represent himself as Jesus Christ and claimed that he had powers like the Son of God.

Counsel said the accused's siblings and Ms Henry's first husband, Gerry Donnelly, had painted a disturbing and dysfunctional picture in their evidence.

Importantly, he said, these witnesses had referred to instances of sudden outbursts of violence in the house, where something trivial could lead to a disproportionate response from Ms Henry.

The accused's father Gerry Donnelly, who had once been married to the deceased, gave evidence that Ms Henry had stabbed him in the arm with a steak knife during an argument around 1999 and that she had also pushed him down the stairs in a separate incident.

Counsel also recalled evidence given by the accused's brother Robert Donnelly. "On a particular day matters were not in order in the house as Ms Henry perceived they should be.

His evidence was that she completely lost it or completely flipped, culminating in a steak knife and the stabbing of furniture in his house.

"Quite disturbing and dramatic series of events unfolded for ironing not being attended to," said Mr MacCarthy.

The lawyer reminded the jurors of a previous account from his client, where Ms Henry had used a butcher's knife on him in 2020. "He tried to force it out of her wrist. When you fall to consider the events of May 23rd, that is the context in which all this came to pass".

He said the defendant had a "sudden and total loss of self control" when his mother took a step forward and screamed in his face that he was "the son of the devil".

Counsel submitted this was "the gravest of things to say" in the context of how the accused had been representing himself to be Jesus Christ.

Counsel submitted that what had happened to the accused, his father and his siblings over the years was "all running through his head" and that Luke Donnelly had reacted to protect himself from this.

Mr MacCarthy submitted that the verdict entered by his client at the outset of the trial was the correct verdict and urged the jurors to find him guilty of manslaughter.

The jury of seven men and five women will return to the Central Criminal Court tomorrow to continue considering their verdict in the trial.

The jurors can return two verdicts in relation to the murder charge against Mr Donnelly, namely; guilty of murder or not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by reason of self defence or provocation.

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