DPP accepts manslaughter plea after third murder trial ends in hung jury

Zoltan Almasi, who was put on trial accused of the same murder three times and had a conviction quashed by the Supreme Court, has had his plea to manslaughter accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for killing a man with a single blow of a baseball bat.

Almasi (49), whose third trial ended three weeks ago in a hung jury, has been in custody for seven years and will now face a sentence hearing for manslaughter for the 2014 killing of Joseph Dunne.

Almasi, a Serbian with an address at Harbour View in Naas, Co Kildare was convicted of murder following his first trial but that conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court.

His second trial resulted in a jury disagreement and his third trial ended on July 1st last with the jury again unable to agree a verdict. At his last trial, he had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Dunne but guilty to his manslaughter.

When arraigned on Friday on the charge of murdering Joseph ‘JoJo’ Dunne at Harbour View on May 16th, 2014 Mr Almasi replied: “Not guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter.”

Caroline Biggs SC for the DPP said the plea is acceptable to the State. Mr Justice Michael White remanded Almasi in custody until September 3rd for a sentence hearing. The court ordered reports from Almasi’s prison governor, chaplain and a prison psychologist.