Convicted murderer knifed 'family man' 71 times before claiming he just wanted to 'steal his dog', prosecutors allege

Direece Roche, 30, denies the murder of Fintan McDwyer

A convicted murderer stabbed a ‘family man’ 71 times before claiming to the police he had just wanted to ‘steal his dog’, prosecutors allege.

Direece Roche, 30, entered the home of Fintan McDwyer in the early hours of the morning of June 30 last year, through his open bedroom window. He then slashed Mr McDwyer, 64, to the neck severing his jugular vein, before stabbing him to the face, head and body in a ‘sustained and repeated attack’, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The court heard that he told the police he was intending to steal Mr McDwyer’s dog, before alleging that the 64-year-old had sexually abused him as a child.

Roche admits killing Mr McDwyer, but states he was acting in self-defence with a simultaneous loss of control, after he claimed Mr McDwyer was armed with a knife and had mentioned his ‘abuse’ of him, jurors were told.

He also stated he had no recollection of stabbing Mr McDwyer and had no intent to injure him.

The defendant denies murder, and an alternate charge of manslaughter, and is on trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Bill Baker KC said Mr McDwyer lived with his 26-year-old son at a property on Platt Lane in Fallowfield, and his dog Sammy - a Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross.

She was originally owned by his sister, Maureen, who sadly passed away. Jurors were told that Maureen was Roche’s grandmother, making Mr McDwyer the great uncle of the defendant.

The court heard he had a number of health issues including a surgically removed spleen after being victim to a stabbing in 1985, as well as type 2 diabetes, depression and a very bad back.

“You will hear evidence that there was some contact between the defendant and Fintan McDwyer at family events when the defendant was young, but there was little or no contact between them after that for reasons I will now explain,” said Mr Baker KC.

“In 2011 the defendant was aged 16 years old he was convicted of murder,”

On New Year's Day, Roche was involved in a confrontation in the street during which he produced a knife he was carrying and stabbed a 23-year-old man, Adam Steele, to the chest, it was said.

Prosecutors allege this showed he had a propensity to carry knives. They also said that on May 14, 2023, whilst on day release from HMP Kirkham, he was found in possession of a bag containing a lock knife.

On June 29th, Mr McDwyer’s son and his girlfriend were away for the night at a wedding. That afternoon, his brother-in-law came to help with odd jobs around the house before they had a cup of tea and he went home.

Mr McDwyer was captured on CCTV from the living room - which was in place for him to keep an eye on Sammy when he was out of the house - locking up the back door before going to bed. Meanwhile, the defendant was allegedly captured on CCTV from neighbouring houses making his way to the house on Platt Lane.

Roche then entered the house through Mr McDwyer’s bedroom window. Moments later he allegedly attacked him and the sounds of the struggle were audible on the CCTV footage, which was played to the court.

The defendant then left the property, wearing a balaclava, and was seen on CCTV to climb over neighbouring fences. Officers later found a small torch and a blood smear in a garden nearby, it was said.

Mr McDwyer’s body was discovered by his son on July 1, after he returned home.

Police and paramedics attended, and Sammy the dog was taken from the scene and now lives with Mr McDwyer’s eldest son, the court heard.

A postmortem report concluded that Mr McDwyer suffered a ‘sustained assault’, involving repeated stabbing to his head and body, and slashed to his lower face and neck.

Roche was arrested a week later, and his phone was examined. The PIN code was set as his deceased mother’s birthday, jurors were told.

Cell site analysis revealed that he had visited his mother’s grave six hours before the attack, and again nine hours after. There was also a picture of him as a young boy with his mum and Mr Dwyer, and a message from his uncle with a link to a Manchester Evening News article about the investigation, Mr Baker said.

He was interviewed and gave no comment, but in February this year he provided a defence case statement in which he alleged Mr McDwyer had abused him as a boy.

“About 6 weeks before the killing, the defendant encountered the deceased on a chance meeting at Platts Field Park where he was walking his dog. He was shocked to meet Mr McDwyer in these circumstances,” said the prosecutor.

“He says that Mr McDwyer told him that the dog was named after his mother and called 'Sammy'. This disturbed the defendant greatly and in his mind the dog came to represent his deceased mother, and he wanted possession of it.”

Roche alleges he went to retrieve the dog, during which he claims Mr McDwyer was armed with a knife and referred to the alleged sexual abuse, and he acted in self defence. He claims that he was not acting in revenge, the statement reads.

“The prosecution say this is a carefully constructed, completely false defence,” Mr Baker added.

Jurors were told that the defendant’s mum had taken her own life in 2008, but had previously told police that she had been abused by an uncle. Prosecutors allege that Roche may have believed Mr McDwyer held some responsibility for her death.

“The defendant may have had a genuine, but mistaken belief, that Fintan McDwyer bore some responsibility for his mother’s death, in his mind depriving him of his childhood after her death, for which he decided to take his revenge by killing Mr McDwyer,” Mr Baker added.

Defence counsel, Joe Stone KC, told jurors to ‘keep an open mind’, and the judge, Mr Justice Bright, said for them to bear in mind that Mr McDwyer was not on trial as he is ‘not here to defend himself’.

Roche, of Berkeley Avenue, Longsight, denies murder.

Proceeding