Man has suspended sentence reactivated after committing new offences
A man who received a suspended sentence for concealing information from gardaí about the violent death of one of his friends has had two years of that sentence reactivated after he was convicted of new offences.
David Dempsey (aged 36), a father of two of Craigue Court, Ballymun, was given a three-year suspended sentence in March 2006 after he pleaded guilty to trying to hide evidence in the case that arose from the killing of separated father of three, Mr Anthony Jordan (aged 54) at Balbutcher Lane, Ballymun between May 10 and 11, 2003.
Judge Frank O'Donnell, who had imposed the original sentence, heard at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that Dempsey had breached the conditions of his suspension by being convicted of new offences in the District Court.
Mr Vincent Heneghan BL, prosecuting, told Judge O'Donnell, that Dempsey is due to be sentenced on charges of criminal damage, trespass and possession of a stolen bank card at Cloverhill District court today.
Judge O'Donnell reactivated two years of the three-year sentence and suspended the final year.
During the original sentence hearing in 2006, Detective Garda Noeleen McKenna told prosecuting counsel, Mr Luan Ó Braonáin BL, that Detective Sergeant Matthew Murphy "became aware" on May 13, 2003 that a man had died in a Ballymun flat and found Mr Jordan's badly beaten body lying there with blood all over the flat.
She said that Christopher Geraghty (aged 37), Knowth Court, Poppintree and Tanya Lamb (aged 29), Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Jordan and were jailed for 10 years each by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court last year.
Lamb was Mr Jordan's girlfriend then and Dempsey had been a friend of both Geraghty and the deceased.
Detective Garda McKenna said that sometime after Mr Jordan was killed, Dempsey was drinking with Geraghty and noticed he was "destroyed" in blood. Geraghty said he had been in a fight with the deceased man and then fell asleep and found him lying on the floor when he woke up some hours later.
Dempsey was concerned about Mr Jordan, whom he knew was epileptic, and went with Geraghty to the flat where it was obvious to him that his friend was dead.
Geraghty took a brush with him which he used in the killing when they left. Dempsey then got a change of clothing for Geraghty and assisted in getting rid of the soiled clothes, the brush and keys in various places.
Detective Garda McKenna said CCTV footage from the Balbutcher Lane area showed Dempsey and Geraghty leave the dead man's flat and when arrested Dempsey admitted concealing the information.
Mr George Birmingham SC (with Mr Luigi Rea BL), defending, submitted that as soon as gardaí contacted Dempsey he realised he had been "stupid and unwise" in not going to them straight away.
His actions, fortunately, "had not derailed the investigation" and he co-operated fully with gardaí in recovering items disposed off in bins and other places.
Judge O'Donnell said Dempsey had a serious record with 22 previous convictions dating back to 1985 but had not been in trouble for seven years. The seriousness of the offence had to be marked with a custodial sentence which he suspended on strict conditions.
Detective Sergeant Murphy told the Central Criminal Court that Mr Jordan "existed unconscious" for four hours after receiving seven head injuries from a hockey stick and a domestic mop.
Geraghty and Lamb left the flat some time after midnight but returned two hours later and went to bed, leaving the deceased in the same position. Mr Jordan's body was discovered after gardaí received a 999 call from "an unidentified woman".
Mr Justice Carney told Geraghty and Lamb that they abandoned Mr Jordan while he was clearly dying. "If he had received intervention, he would be still alive today," he added.
Geraghty had one previous conviction for firearm possession and Lamb had 23 previous convictions for offences including violence and threatening behaviour.
