Two brothers who were found guilty of fatally stabbing a Dublin man are due to be retried next January after their murder convictions were quashed.
Warren (36) and Jeffrey Dumbrell (30), of Emmet Place in Inchicore, were found guilty of the murder of Christopher Cawley (36), by a Central Criminal Court jury in June 2008.
The father of six was attacked and fatally stabbed on the stairway of the flat complex where he lived at Tyrone Place in Inchicore, on October 29th 2006.
The brothers received the mandatory life sentence at the time. They had both denied the killing.
However earlier this month, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed their convictions and ordered that the Dumbrells be retried, because of comments made by the trial judge in a speech he gave, while he was presiding over the case.
The court said that Mr Justice Paul Carney made a speech at University College Cork in June 2008, which contained “prejudicial material.”
It said there was a “reasonable apprehension” that the brothers had not received a fair trial and this rendered their murder conviction unsafe.
Mr Justice Carney’s speech included statements on a number of issues relevant to the brother’s trial, including fatal stabbings, knife crime and sentencing policy, the court said.
It also said that his comments attracted extensive media attention at the time.
A date of January 24th next year has now been set for the retrial.