Tom Dooley’s children witnessed murder, gardaí say as two are charged

The murder of a 43-year-old father of seven while attending a funeral in Co Kerry last month was witnessed by four of the man’s young children, it was alleged by gardaí during a court hearing today as two people were charged with separate offences in relation to the fatal assault.

Det Sgt Mark O’Sullivan alleged, when objecting to bail for a juvenile charged with possession of an offensive weapon, that Tom Dooley from Hazelwood Drive in Killarney was attacked by a group of men while attending a funeral at Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, on October 5th.

He told Tralee District Court that the deceased suffered extensive injuries in the alleged assault, which was witnessed by Mr Dooley’s wife, Siobhán, who was also injured in the attack, and by four of the couple’s children, who were attending the funeral with them.

The revelation that the late Mr Dooley’s children witnessed his murder came after Det Sgt O’Sullivan charged a juvenile with possession of an offensive weapon. The State alleges in the charge that the juvenile had in his possession an improvised weapon with a sharp blade.

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Det Sgt O’Sullivan gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told the court that he arrested the juvenile in the presence of his mother in Tralee and when he put the charge to the juvenile, again in the presence of his mother, the accused made no reply.

He said that gardaí were objecting to bail on the grounds they believed that the accused was a flight risk, and he told the court that the accused had been arrested getting off a ferry in Dublin Port and they feared he would return to the UK where he had family links if granted bail.

Defence solicitor Aoife Buttimer said that her client was willing to abide by strict bail conditions to avoid being remanded in detention as there was a strong possibility that he could be held in detention for over a year with his case likely to be heard at the Central Criminal Court.

Judge David Waters said that he had to consider flight risk, but he was also conscious of the fact that the accused was a juvenile.

He said he was willing to remand him in detention with consent to bail on a number of strict conditions, including that he would surrender his passport, sign on twice daily at his local Garda station, and provide gardaí with a mobile phone number on which he can be contacted 24/7.

He also made it a condition of bail that the accused would have no contact, directly or indirectly, with any witnesses in the case, including members of the deceased’s family, and added that he must stay out of Kerry except for court appearances.

Sgt Miriam Mulhall Nolan applied for a remand for a week and Judge Waters remanded the accused on his own bond of €50 and an independent surety of €5,000 to appear at Tralee District Court on November 23rd for the DPP’s directions.

Earlier, Thomas Dooley of Bay 10, Halting Site, Carrigrohane Straight, Cork, was charged with both the murder of Tom Dooley and assault causing serious harm to Siobhán Dooley at Rath Cemetery on the same date, contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.

Det Sgt Ernie Henderson gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told Tralee District Court that the accused, 20 year old Mr Dooley, who was known to the deceased, replied ‘No comment’ to the two charges when they were put to him after caution.

Gardaí applied for a remand on custody and defence solicitor Ms Buttimer accepted the court did not have the jurisdiction to grant bail on a murder charge and Judge Waters remanded Mr Dooley in custody to appear again at Tralee District Court on November 23rd.

Two other men, the deceased’s brother, Patrick Dooley (35) with an address at Arbutus Grove, Killarney, and his cousin and brother-in-law, Thomas Dooley (41) of Bay 10, The Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork, have already been charged with Mr Dooley’s murder.