Wednesday 28 October 2026Compiled from published reports. Every claim links to its source.

Ireland Crime

Every case followed from the first report to the sentence, or to where the reporting stopped.

Case No. 2601Murder · Co. Dublin · 28 Dec 2024

Dublin murderer Gerald Dunne critically ill after collapsing in Wheatfield Prison cell

Gerald Dunne, 49, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence for the 1999 stabbing death of Liam Thompson in Dolphin's Barn, Dublin, was found unconscious in his cell at Wheatfield Prison on 28 December 2024 and remains critically ill in a Dublin hospital. The article provides extensive background on the three trials that led to his conviction in May 2004.

  1. Reported
  2. Arrested
  3. Charged
  4. In court
  5. Verdict
  6. Sentenced
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet

Key facts

consolidated from all reports
20 statements extracted from the articles
  • whatGerald Dunne was found unconscious in his cell at Wheatfield Prison on 28 December (dublinlive.ie)
  • whatDunne is 49 years old (dublinlive.ie)
  • whatDunne was charged with murdering Liam Thompson, 20, in Dolphin's Barn, south inner city Dublin, on 26 January 1999 (dublinlive.ie)
  • whatDunne stabbed Thompson to death during a row over the use of a call box (dublinlive.ie)
  • whatDunne threatened to give a relative HIV during the fight (dublinlive.ie)
  • whereDunne's previous address was Rafter's Avenue, Drimnagh, Dublin (dublinlive.ie)
  • whereRelatives went for a drink in the Rialto House pub off the South Circular Road (dublinlive.ie)
  • whereDunne has spent most of his time in jail at Wheatfield Prison (dublinlive.ie)
  • causeThompson suffered a fatal wound to his heart, injuries to his abdomen, and abrasions to his head and neck (dublinlive.ie)
  • causeThe stab wound went through the front wall and through the right ventricle and into the cavity of the heart (dublinlive.ie)
  • causeThompson bled from the injury to the sack surrounding his heart leading to his collapse and death (dublinlive.ie)
  • weaponThompson was stabbed with a knife (dublinlive.ie)
  • courtDunne went through three trials for the murder (dublinlive.ie)
  • courtDunne was first convicted in 2001 but the conviction was quashed on appeal (dublinlive.ie)
  • courtA second trial collapsed (dublinlive.ie)
  • courtDunne was finally convicted after a fresh trial in May 2004 (dublinlive.ie)
  • courtIn 2019 Dunne failed in a High Court bid to challenge his jail disciplinary process (dublinlive.ie)
  • otherDunne has been locked up for almost 26 years (dublinlive.ie)
  • otherThompson's grandfather had been buried on the day of the murder (dublinlive.ie)
  • otherIn November 2017 officers found an improvised knife wrapped in tissue paper under Dunne's mattress (dublinlive.ie)

The reporting

newest first
  1. 6 Jan2025
    Otherdublinlive.ie, follow-up
    Dublin murderer locked up for 26 years 'seriously ill after prison collapse'

    Reports that convicted murderer Gerald Dunne collapsed in his Wheatfield Prison cell on 28 December 2024 and is critically ill in a Dublin hospital, with detailed background on the 1999 murder of Liam Thompson, the three trials, and a 2019 High Court disciplinary appeal.

    convicted, Gerald Dunne, 49, male, named, irish (judged from name)Gerald Dunnevictim, Liam Thompson, 20, male, irish (judged from name)Liam Thompson