A MAN jailed for the murder of Jennifer Dornan has lost a bid to have his conviction overturned.
Jennifer was stabbed before her Hazel View home was set on fire in Lagmore in 2015.
Raymond Martin Gabriel O'Neill (48) had denied killing the 30-year-old mother of three. In 2022, he received a minimum 22-year jail sentence for murder and arson at Belfast Crown Court.
Mr O'Neill appeared via videolink to hear the appeal decision. Defence lawyers argued about the right to introduce evidence mid-trial from a former partner of O'Neill's nephew who undermined another prosecution witness.
The woman testified that she had heard the defendant banging on their door on the morning Ms Dornan died.
She then claimed to have overheard a conversation which involved O'Neill admitting he had "killed someone". He then allegedly added: "It was the drink and drugs that made me do it."
O'Neill's legal team also contended there had been a legal error in allowing the prosecution to rely on two conflicting accounts.
The Lady Chief Justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan said the objective had been to highlight key factual issues about O'Neill's conduct following the killing, which were central to establishing his guilt or innocence.
"The primary purpose of adducing the evidence was to incriminate the applicant," she said.
"No defendant's trial is rendered unfair by the adduction of incriminating evidence.
"We consider it would be offensive to any concept of justice and contrary to common sense, to have excluded the highly material and incriminating evidence on the ground of what was ultimately a purely technical objection having no bearing on the fairness of the trial," she said.
All other grounds of challenge were also rejected.
Dame Siobhan concluded: "The simple question for this court is whether the applicant's conviction is safe.
"The appeal is dismissed on its merits for the reasons given."
