Killer appeals conviction for murdering ex-partner's boyfriend in attack at Clare home

A killer serving a life sentence for stabbing his ex-partner's boyfriend to death in a "sneak attack" in County Clare after inviting him for a fist fight is appealing his conviction for murder.

Nassar Ahmed, aged 45, of The Mews, Kilrush Road, Ennis had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Eoin Boylan (32) at Gordon Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis, on April 14, 2020.

The jury deliberated for just two hours and five minutes before unanimously finding Ahmed guilty of murder, rejecting his claim that he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed Mr Boylan three times. He was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment by Ms Justice Eileen Creedon at the Central Criminal Court in July 2022.

The prosecution had told the jury that Ahmed stabbed Mr Boylan in a "sneak attack" after inviting him to a fist fight while he had a knife concealed in his pocket. Ahmed told gardaí that he grabbed something sharp after being attacked but said he couldn't remember what it was or where he threw it away.

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Lorcan Staines SC, prosecuting, said in his closing speech that the accused had told "lie after lie" to gardai about the weapon used and that the lies were so bad they were "borderline laughable".

Counsel argued the issue of self-defence did not arise in the case as the deceased had been in "manifest retreat" when he was stabbed three times by the accused. The jury watched CCTV footage of the stabbing which Ahmed accepted in his garda interviews showed Mr Boylan retreating from the attack.

Ahmed had admitted to unlawfully killing Mr Boylan but said he believed he was acting in self-defence. The jury rejected his claim, accepting the prosecution's case that Ahmed was the aggressor and finding that the defendant did not believe he was using reasonable force to defend himself.

On Monday, Michael Bowman SC, for Ahmed, launched an appeal against his conviction, arguing that the manner in which certain evidence was presented to the trial was incorrect.

He contended that the trial judge had made an error in her ruling on this matter and said the verdicts delivered should be set aside.

However Lorcan Staines SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, asserted that the trial judge’s ruling on this issue was “entirely correct”.

Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the three judge Court of Appeal would reserve judgment and deliver it’s decision at a later date.

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The trial heard that Ahmed, who is originally from Sudan in North Africa, came to Ireland in the mid 2000′s and settled in Ennis, County Clare, where he met Susan O’Doherty. The couple married in 2007 and had three children but the marriage subsequently broke down and ended completely in 2018.

Around Christmas 2019, Ahmed’s former partner met Eoin Boylan and they started a relationship together. The court heard that Boylan moved into the woman’s house “quite quickly” after their relationship commenced.

On the day of the attack, there was phone communication between Ahmed and his former partner as he wanted to come to the house, and a dispute arose.

The deceased’s mother Catherine Martin testified during the trial that Ahmed did not look “very happy” when he arrived outside the house on the day of the stabbing. She recalled that Ahmed called his former partner “a whore” as the pair argued outside.

Ms Martin told how her son came out the front door when he heard Nassar shouting.

She said her son said he was going out to ask Ahmed to stop shouting, and to ask him if he wanted to come inside. The witness said she watched as Ahmed “stood on his tippy-toes and moved very quickly, then stood on one leg and lunged towards my son”.

“I let out a roar for him [Ahmed] to stop,” Ms Martin said. “I put my arm under him to support him [Boylan], to bring him back to the house. Susan [O’Doherty, Ahmed’s former partner] was on the other side, and roaring at Nassar, saying ‘what have you done?’”