Man acquitted of murdering Josh Dunne hopes 16-year-old’s mother can forgive him

A man acquitted on all charges after fatally stabbing Dublin teenager Josh Dunne last year said he hoped one day the boy’s mother, Diane Dunne, could forgive him.

George Bento spent 16 months on remand in prison awaiting trial but was yesterday cleared on all charges, including murder, by a jury at the Central Criminal Court. He faced life imprisonment if convicted but walked free from the court, with no convictions, within minutes of the verdicts being returned.

Mr Bento (36), a Brazilian national of East Wall in Dublin, had denied murdering 16-year-old Josh at East Wall Road on January 26th, 2021.

“I said sorry at the beginning, at the end,” he said when asked if he accepted it was a very difficult day for the boy’s mother. “Hopefully one day she could forgive me for what happened. I continue to say sorry.”

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He added what happened to her son was never his intention.

“I’m very grateful, I pray a lot for that,” he said of being acquitted. He felt great “emotion” and would need time to “process” the case and its outcome.

“Now my focus is my family and to spend some time with the people I love and the people who supported me,” he said.

Mr Bento had been concerned his nationality might work against him but believed it had been a “fair” process.

Diane Dunne later posted on Facebook thanking supporters for their kind words and said she was “not going down easy” and would “keep fighting for Josh” until the day she died.

The jury took a little more than eight hours to reach unanimous verdicts on all counts following a six-week trial. The Dunne family left the court immediately on hearing the verdict.

While on trial, Mr Bento said he acted in self-defence on the day of the fatal stabbing. He said he was being attacked by a gang after he and another Deliveroo cyclist tried to prevent another man’s bike from being stolen. He explained he took out a knife, which he said he kept on his person for cutting fruit and stabbed three people, including Josh from Ballymun, Dublin. Mr Bento believed he had saved the lives of two people by his actions; his own and that of the man he was with.

He told the court he stabbed the first two people, non-fatally, after they punched and kicked him. The court heard Josh reacted by punching Mr Bento repeatedly and was then stabbed.

It emerged during the trial that flights home to Brazil were booked for Mr Bento two days after Josh died. But Mr Bento said he was unaware the boy had died when the flights were booked.