Five family members and a teenager used"medieval violence" to"butcher" a father of seven in"an honour killing" during a Co Kerry funeral, carrying out a"biblical atrocity" that was"tragic and heartbreaking as it was ridiculous and stupid", a prosecution barrister has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court in Cork.
"Yet for all those heady phrases what was left behind was a widow with seven children in the most pointless, wasteful and needless circumstances," Mr Kelly said. The younger brother of the late Mr Dooley, Patrick Dooley, 36, with an address at Arbutus Grove, Killarney, Mr Dooley's cousin, Thomas Dooley Senior, 43, and that man’s son, Thomas Dooley Junior, 21, along with Michael Dooley, 29, all of the Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork, as well as Daniel Dooley, 42, of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, and a male teenager, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Dooley at Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, on 5 October 2022.
An intention to commit murder, he said, does not require forethought or planning and that taking part in a"murderous attack" can be formed in seconds. Mr Kelly told the jury that"honour" had been offended and submitted this was"a score that was to be settled and that is as tragic and heartbreaking as it is ridiculous and stupid".
The deceased, Mr Kelly told the jury, had been brutally murdered and suffered a stab wound, which was inflicted with so much force to cause spinal damage. He had also suffered a stab wound to the thigh, which had tracked 10.5cm into the body and severed the femoral artery. Mr Dooley, he said, was dying if not already dead as the accused men left the cemetery that day and were seen running back to their vans. Within a matter of seconds after the attack the six men were back at their three respective vans and speeding out the road, counsel added.
"She sees Thomas Dooley Snr taking off his coat and producing two weapons, one rusty and one shiny. She said Patrick Dooley was grinning and had a knife ... She said there were two men in front and others behind". The deceased had a target on his back and the accused had been present in the cemetery that day to brutally attack him. He said Mr Dooley was"prey" at that moment and was the target of the operation 37 seconds after he entered the graveyard.