Man loses appeal to overturn murder conviction

A man jailed for the murder of Jennifer Dornan in west Belfast has lost a bid to have his conviction overturned.

Ms Dornan was stabbed before her house was set on fire in the Lagmore area of the city in 2015.

The man convicted of her murder, 48-year-old Raymond Martin Gabriel O’Neill, had denied killing the 30-year-old mother of three.

In 2022, he received a minimum 22-year jail sentence for murder and arson at Belfast Crown Court.

Mr O’Neill appeared via videolink to hear the appeal decision.

During the trial, he claimed that he suffered from memory loss due to being poisoned by prison staff in Dublin.

But he said he would expect someone who had committed murder to have remembered doing so.

Also during the trial, jurors were shown CCTV footage of Ms Dornan walking home, and a man climbing over a fence to enter the property a short time later.

The prosecution successfully argued O’Neill was that intruder.

In the appeal, defence lawyers argued a number of grounds for why the conviction should be challenged.

One issue was the right to introduce evidence mid-trial from a former partner of O’Neill’s nephew who undermined another prosecution witness.

The woman testified that she had been woken by the defendant banging on their door on the morning Ms Dornan died.

She told the jury she then overheard a conversation in which involved Mr O’Neill confessing he had “killed someone”.

O’Neill’s legal team contended there had been a legal error in allowing the prosecution to rely on two conflicting accounts.

They described the development as unfair and wrong.

But the Court of Appeal backed opposing submissions that prosecutors were entitled to rely on new testimony from someone who contradicted one of their own witnesses.

All other grounds of challenge were also rejected.

The Lady Chief Justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan concluded: “The simple question for this court is whether the applicant’s conviction is safe.

“The appeal is dismissed on its merits for the reasons given.”

In a statement to BBC News NI, the Dornan family welcomed Monday’s ruling.

“We feel relieved and happy. But it’s been 10 years of fighting. Our determination is unwavering.

“It means we can now properly grieve for our loved sister, daughter and mother to her three beautiful children.”