A FORMER Army private, Seán Courtney, who has served 15 years of a life sentence for the murder of Dublin woman Patricia O’Toole in the Dublin mountains, will apply next week to the High Court for his release from prison.
Courtney is challenging the constitutionality of the laws providing for a mandatory life sentence for murder and is contending that he is now eligible for, and should be granted, temporary release.
He is arguing that the failure to release him, having served 15 years, is in breach of his rights under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003.
Courtney (41), of South Circular Road, Dublin, was found guilty in January 1993 by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of murdering Ms O’Toole (32), an insurance employee from Killiney, at Mount Venus Road, Rathfarnham, in August 1991. Courtney had admitted killing Ms O’Toole but claimed he was insane at the time in that he could not refrain from what he was doing by virtue of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his experiences in Lebanon.
During the trial, Courtney said an Army friend had accidentally shot himself while on duty in the Lebanon in 1987 and this and other incidents, including coming under fire from “armed Arabs”, had a “terrible effect” on him.
The case was mentioned yesterday before Mr Justice Liam McKechnie who made a production order allowing Courtney to attend the hearing. The case, listed for Wednesday next, is expected to last three to four days.
Courtney received a life sentence following his nine-day trial.
His appeal against that conviction was rejected by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1994. The trial jury heard that, in a statement to gardaí, Courtney admitted he picked up Ms O’Toole on August 31st, 1991, after she stopped his car to ask for directions.