Man jailed for life for murder of Jamie Kavanagh in Dublin hostel

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Man Jailed For Life For Murder Of Jamie Kavanagh In Dublin Hostel
Robert Murphy (42) pleaded guilty to manslaughter but not guilty to the murder of Jamie Kavanagh at a Dublin hostel.
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Ryan Dunne

The mother of murder victim Jamie Kavanagh has spoken of feeling like “a wound that is wide open”, as the man who told gardaí he wanted to kill her son “stone dead” was sentenced to life in prison at the Central Criminal Court.

“Burying your child is unnatural, it changes everything about you, and a violent end adds a whole other level of despair,” said Niamh McGuinness on Thursday during the sentencing of Robert Murphy (42).

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Murphy had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but not guilty to the murder of 23-year-old Jamie Kavanagh at a hostel on Harrington Street, Dublin 8 on April 19th, 2023.

However, the jury deliberated for close to five hours before returning their unanimous verdict of guilty to murder on November 14th last year.

At the sentence hearing, Detective Sergeant Tim O’Sullivan gave evidence to counsel for the State, Sean Gillane SC, that in the early hours of the morning, a 999 call was made of an incident at the hostel.

Witness Carrie Benn, who had been living at the hostel with Mr Kavanagh and Murphy at the time, said she heard Mr Kavanagh calling for help, so she gained entry to his bedsit and saw that he was injured.

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When the emergency services arrived, they found that Mr Kavanagh had suffered a number of stab wounds and was in a serious and critical condition.

Mr Kavanagh was brought to St James Hospital but shortly afterwards succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

Det Sgt O’Sullivan said the deceased suffered seven injuries, including six sharp force injuries comprising three stab wounds and three incisions.

The most serious injury was a 13cm wound to his left flank that caused damage to his left lung and kidney. The cause of death was the stab wound to his trunk causing internal injuries.

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Det Sgt O’Sullivan said that when arrested and cautioned, Murphy said: “I done that, I'll tell youse what happened.” Murphy told gardaí that he went for Mr Kavanagh’s neck and “wanted to kill him stone dead”.

The detective said that Murphy also suggested he acted in self-defence as there had been an altercation.

CCTV footage showed Murphy in a laneway to the rear of the premises, wearing a balaclava. He climbed over the rear wall and entered the rear door, before he spent two minutes at the door of Mr Kavanagh’s bedsit trying to gain entry.

Blood-stained clothing

When he was searched by gardaí, he was found with a bag containing blood-stained clothing, a balaclava and knives.

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Det Sgt O’Sullivan told the court that Murphy had 66 previous convictions, including eight for the possession of knives and other articles, as well as convictions for the possession of firearms and ammo, and arson intending to endanger the life of another.Jamie Kavanagh

In her victim impact statement, Ms McGuinness said that Jamie was her “hero”, whose death had left the family “absolutely devastated”.

She said that Murphy’s trial had been even worse than she could have imagined, as he entered a not guilty plea and attempted to blame her son, which did nothing more than compound the trauma. Ms McGuinness said that the eventual verdict of guilty changed nothing, as it did not bring her son back.

“What I wouldn’t give to feel one of his bear hugs now,” she said, going on to describe herself as “a broken mother”.

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“I have to hold his love and compassion inside of me and know that he forgives me for not protecting him,” said Ms McGuinness.

“He speaks to me in my dreams. He is sorry that I am in so much pain. In the dream I’m crying and he’s crying, and we are hugging to feel each other’s comfort,” she said.

Saying that she misses his voice and his “unique, contagious laugh”, Ms McGuinness described herself as “a wound that is wide open”.

“Burying your child is unnatural, it changes everything about you, and a violent end adds a whole other level of despair,” she said.

Ms McGuinness went on to say that when her daughter, Jamie’s younger sister, heard the news, she released “a primal scream” and begged her mother to tell her it was not true.

“Looking at him in a coffin that I had to pick out was unbreakable, so unbearable that I blacked out twice. It looked like him but then again it didn’t. It was all wrong,” she said.

“I have to choose life every day, every day is an effort not to give up. I have to see myself through his eyes,” she said.

Ms McGuinness concluded by saying: “Jamie, you know the beat of my heart from the inside. I promise to love you forever.”

Ms Justice Melanie Greally thanked Ms McGuinness for her victim impact statement, expressing the court’s regret that the trial was “such a harrowing and brutal experience for the family”.

Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC told the court that Murphy had said that he never meant for this to happen, but “things got out of control”.

“He’s sorry for the young lad, his family and friends,” said Mr Grehan.

Ms Justice Greally sentenced Murphy to life in prison, backdated to the date he went into custody, April 19th, 2023.

The trial had heard that Jamie Kavanagh lived in the bedsit on Harrington Street which was run by hostel and charity 'Crosscare'. Murphy lived next door to Mr Kavanagh on the first floor of the hostel, where many people were "on the margins" and on State aid.

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The jury rejected the defence case that Murphy had only entered the deceased’s room in order to “frighten”, but not kill him and lacked the necessary intent.

The defence had argued that the stabbing was a badly executed effort by Murphy to get Mr Kavanagh out of the house and that the prosecution had also failed to prove Murphy was not acting in what he believed was self-defence.

However, the prosecution said that all mentions of drug use and knives in the house were just red herrings in the case and what mattered was Murphy’s honest intention.

Murphy was also discovered to have €750 in cash on his person. Amber Smith gave evidence that she and her partner Jamie Kavanagh had planned to move to Spain together, with the deceased securing a loan of “probably over €900” from family members to begin their new life.

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