Man who bludgeoned friend with rock found guilty of murder

A man who claimed he was acting in self-defence when he bludgeoned his friend to death with a rock has been convicted of murder.

Thomas O’Connor (29), of Burnaby Court, Greystones, Co Wicklow, had been charged with murdering John O’Brien (22), of Burnaby Lawns, Greystones, on June 4th, 2010.

O’Connor, a father of one, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter at Farrankelly Road, Delgany, Co Wicklow.

O’Connor admitted hitting Mr O’Brien over the head with the 1.6kg rock “two or three times”, but said he only did so to protect himself after his friend attacked him.

A postmortem revealed Mr O’Brien died from “catastrophic injuries” as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court took just under four hours to find O’Connor guilty of murder. He now faces a mandatory life sentence.

During its deliberations the jury asked to re-examine the murder weapon. It returned less than half an hour later with its verdict.

Trial judge Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan remanded O’Connor in custody for sentencing on March 23rd, and exempt the jury from service for 10 years.