A court has upheld the right of a person to use reasonable force to defend themselves against a home intruder.
In a landmark decision, a Central Criminal Court jury acquitted Martin Keenan (20) of the murder of an unarmed man he stabbed to death with broken garden shears after finding him in his bedroom.
It is the first time a murder charge has been defended using the Criminal Law (Defence and the Dwelling) Act 2011, which removed an obligation on householders to retreat, and allows for the use of reasonable force against intruders.
The legislation was introduced in the wake of the Padraig Nally case, where a farmer was accused and later acquitted following two trials of the unlawful killing of a notorious criminal he found trespassing on his property.
Mr Keenan said he was frightened to find "two junkies" in his bedroom and hit Wesley Mooney (33) with half a pair of garden shears after he came running at him.
The defence relied on the act and a Court of Criminal Appeal judgment, which stated burglary was an act of aggression.
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Wesley Mooney
Defence counsel Séamus Clarke SC said the act specified that nothing should require the homeowner to retreat from his or her dwelling. He said that an intruder had chosen to invade a person's home and that there was latitude to the homeowner.
"Mr Keenan didn't go home that night looking for trouble," he said. "Trouble was waiting for him when he got home."
In his closing speech, Mr Clarke had also quoted from a Court of Criminal Appeal judgment given by the late Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman: "Common knowledge will have told the homeowner that certain burglaries are committed by drug addicts, whose behaviour may be randomly vicious or wholly unpredictable."
Mr Clarke said his client had described the man in his home as a scary-looking junkie.
The prosecution had alleged Mr Keenan's account was contrived to justify what he'd done.
It alleged the force used had been unreasonable and there was no need or justification for the use of the weapon.
Mr Justice Paul Butler had told the jury that under the 2011 act there was a right to use reasonable force, where a person believed the other entered the dwelling as a trespasser, especially in the context of committing a crime.
"That's certainly a reasonable belief in this case," he said.
The judge said if they were satisfied Mr Keenan felt in danger, he was entitled to defend himself using force and if that force was not disproportionate, then he was not guilty.
Mr Keenan, a member of the Travelling community from Cardiffsbridge Avenue, Finglas, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Mooney at St Joseph's Park halting site, Dunsink Lane.
The trial was told that on June 5, 2016, Mr Mooney and his girlfriend Ciara Tynan went to Mr Keenan's mobile home after being invited to go there by another person for a drink.
Ms Tynan said they had followed this person's directions to the empty and unlocked mobile home and had gone into the bedroom because it was the only room with a light on.
She admitted she had handled items and opened cupboards in the living room.
She said the owner returned and told them to "Get the f*** out" and that they did so.
However, as they were leaving, the accused stuck something into her boyfriend. Mr Mooney sustained two stab wounds, one below the left armpit with a depth of 27cm that went through both lungs and sliced two blood vessels.
Mr Keenan told detectives he got a fright when he and his wife arrived home around 11.45pm to find someone in their bedroom.
"They were two junkies and I was frightened," he said, adding the man had attacked him. "He came running at me so I picked up some kind of a tool yoke and I hit him with it."
Mr Mooney had a range of drugs in his system. He had convictions for a burglary, threatening to kill and carrying an imitation firearm, while Ms Tynan had a conviction for robbery.
