A gunman who said he was “shovelling” cocaine into himself when he opened fire on a family member with a submachine gun in the victim’s front garden was not suffering from a “substance-induced psychotic disorder”, a jury has found in unanimously convicting him of murder.
The jury rejected father of six Christopher Devine’s defence that he should be found guilty of manslaughter because he had a mental disorder which would have diminished his capacity to control himself.
They also rejected his contention that he was so intoxicated from taking “industrial quantities” of cocaine, combined with large amounts of alcohol, he couldn’t have formed an intention to kill or cause serious injury.
Instead the panel accepted the case made by Garret Baker SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that Devine’s mind was functioning as he had acted deliberately in the build-up to, as well as in the aftermath of, the killing of Michael Tormey.
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The trial heard evidence that Devine, who told gardaí that he had been Tormey’s best man at his wedding, drove to the victim’s home and shot him five times before walking back to his car and spinning the wheels as he made his escape.
Devine (44), with an address at Convent Lawns, Kylemore Road, Ballyfermot in Dublin 10, repeatedly denied to gardaí that he murdered Tormey and the weapon used – an MP5 pattern submachine gun – was never recovered.
The court heard that Devine has no psychiatric history and had never taken any psychiatric medication.
Following Monday’s verdict, Ms Justice Melanie Greally, who presided in the trial, adjourned the matter to December 19th when Devine faces the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
Members of the Tormey family will be invited to make statements to the court on that date.
Devine had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Tormey (49) at Thomond Road in Ballyfermot in the early hours of January 9th, 2022.
Tormey was struck by five bullets in his front garden which went through his body, causing bleeding, rib fractures and partial lung collapse.
Devine told gardaí in his interviews that he and the deceased had been engaged in drug related activity by “shifting a bit of stuff for lads”. The defendant went on to say “coke or whatever” when asked to elaborate by officers. However, he said that himself and Tormey had “kind of got out” of the “drugs business”.
During the seven-day trial at the Central Criminal Court, two psychiatrists differed on whether Devine qualified for a manslaughter verdict on the basis of diminished responsibility and cocaine intoxication.
On Monday, however, the nine men and three women found Devine guilty of murder by unanimous verdict. They had deliberated for four hours and 54 minutes over the course of two days.
Ms Justice Greally thanked the panel for their service and said it was a very difficult case to decide on. She told the jurors that they had gone about their task in “a highly conscientious” way and given it all the attention it merited.
