A father-of-four has been found guilty of manslaughter for killing an “intruder” who had stolen from the defendant’s unlocked van and got into his partner’s car.
Members of the deceased man Jordan Ronan’s family stood up and left the courtroom when the jury delivered its verdict, finding Patrick Murphy (35) not guilty of murder.
Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo remanded Murphy in custody until January 26th for a sentencing hearing.
Members of the Ronan family will be invited to make statements to the court on that date.
RM Block
Murphy, of Drumcairn Parade in Tallaght, admitted stabbing 20-year-old Jordan Ronan, causing his death, but claimed he was acting in defence of his family and his property.
In her opening address, Patricia McLaughlin, prosecuting, told the jury of five women and seven men that Mr Ronan suffered a single fatal stab wound to the chest in the early hours of July 26th, 2024.
Mr Ronan had spent the earlier part of the night chatting with his friends Rhys Murphy and John Green. Rhys Murphy told Ms McLaughlin the deceased called to his house at about 2am and they sat in a car in the garden, “chilling and smoking weed” until about 3.15am.
The second friend, Mr Green, said he offered to let Mr Ronan stay at his house so they got out of the car and started walking. He said Mr Ronan kept going into gardens along the route and walking up to cars so Mr Green “roared at him” and told him to follow. The witness arrived home and waited but Mr Ronan did not show up.
At the same time, David Conlon was smoking at the window of his home on Drumcairn Avenue while his wife Madeline lay beside him in bed. He told Ms McLaughlin that he heard a “loud roar”, jumped up and saw “this lad running by the driveway” and looking back behind him before he ran into a pole and fell to the ground.
Firefighter Alexander Hudson, who arrived with the emergency services, said he noticed blood on Mr Ronan’s chest and a wound measuring 1-2cm.
Mr Hudson said he found two pairs of pliers and cards concealed on Mr Ronan’s body. A Revolut card registered to Patrick Murphy was found on the deceased.
Later that morning, Gda Cullen went to Mr Murphy’s house to take a statement about the theft of his Revolut card. While taking the statement, Gda Cullen heard Murphy “mutter under his breath”, saying: “This is a load of boll***s.”
Murphy did not mention that he had stabbed Mr Ronan.
The jury viewed CCTV footage of the killing, which included footage from the Ring doorbell attached to Murphy’s home. It showed Mr Ronan walking up Murphy’s driveway and getting into his van before getting into Murphy’s partner’s BMW.
The Ring doorbell footage showed Murphy opening his front door and sprinting down his driveway. The fatal encounter took place within seconds and Murphy ran back to his house, where he made several attempts before successfully removing the door camera.
Gardaí recovered the footage using Murphy’s partner’s phone.
It was accepted that a Revolut card found in Jordan Ronan’s possession belonged to Mr Murphy and had been taken from the defendant’s van, which was parked in his driveway.
In her closing speech, Ms McLaughlin said the force used by Murphy was “disproportionate to anything Jordan Ronan had done”.
She told the jury that Murphy armed himself with a knife, ran out of his house, opened the door of the car and deliberately stabbed Mr Ronan in the chest.
Ronan Kennedy, defending, told the jury: “Whatever you may think about Mr Murphy’s actions, he is not a murderer.”
He said Murphy and his family were at home “minding their own business” when their “peace, their security” was violated.
He noted the youngest of the couple’s four young children was just a few months old at the time and they were in the “sanctity of their own home”.
