Overview
- The Court of Appeal quashed Connolly’s December 2022 murder conviction and directed a retrial in a ruling published on Thursday that focused on the fairness of the original trial.
- The court said the trial judge repeatedly made strong comments and suggested how jurors should answer questions, which could have led jurors to think the judge was personally convinced of guilt.
- The appellate decision did not rule on the underlying evidence, so the forensic and medical material from the first trial — including Connolly’s DNA on the victim and the chief pathologist’s finding of asphyxia from neck pressure — can be re‑examined at retrial.
- Connolly, who has spent more than three years in custody since his conviction, was remanded again and will appear before the Central Criminal Court where he may apply for bail.
- The case highlights legal safeguards for a fair jury trial and shows the DPP can seek a new trial when judicial directions risk undermining impartiality, with the retrial to decide the facts that the last jury found proven.