Man, 70, told gardaí he ‘killed husband-to-be in self-defence’

A 70-YEAR-OLD man told gardaí he was acting in self-defence when he strangled to death his husband-to-be, a murder trial has heard.

Desmond Duffy was in a civil partnership with Desmond Sullivan, 59, who died at the couple’s home in Rathmines, Dublin 6, on May 23, 2016.

There had been ‘a fair amount of drinking’ followed by a row, prosecution barrister Conor Devally SC told the trial of Desmond Duffy at the Central Criminal Court yesterday. After the row, Mr Sullivan lay dead.

Later, talking to gardaí, Mr Duffy, who was due to marry Mr Sullivan in July 2017, said he had not been the aggressor, and had fended off an attack by squeezing Mr Sullivan, strangling his airways and causing his death. Giving evidence to the court, Mr Sullivan’s nephew Garda Maurice Ward described how he received a call from his uncle’s partner, Mr Duffy on the night of Mr Sullivan’s death. Garda Ward said that when he arrived at the house, Mr Duffy was ‘shook’. He asked if an ambulance was needed, and Mr Duffy said: ‘Yes, I think so.’ Mr Ward asked if Mr Sullivan was dead and he replied, ‘Yes, I think so.’

He asked what had happened, and Mr Duffy said there had been a fight, and raised his hands to his neck area, saying he had put his hands up and Mr Sullivan fell to the ground.

Mr Duffy has pleaded not guilty to Mr Sullivan’s murder at Summerville Park, Dublin 6. The trial will continue in front of a jury and Justice Paul McDermott today.