31 year old Direece Roche from Longsight who is now a convicted double murderer, has been handed a full life term today for the murder of Fintan McDwyer in July 2024
The court in Manchester was told that
Roche entered Fintan McDwyer’s home in the early hours of the morning of 30 June 2024 through an open window in Fintan’s bedroom, before he stabbed him to death.
Fintan suffered 77 stab wounds. He was home alone after his son and girlfriend were away for the night at a wedding.
During the investigation, which was quickly launched after Fintan’s death, Roche told police in interview, that he intended to steal his dog, Sammy – a Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross – which belonged to his grandmother, who was Fintan’s sister.
When officers located Fintan with numerous stab wounds in his bedroom, they found a CCTV camera in his living room; this was to keep an eye on Sammy.
The footage from the camera caught the moments up until Fintan’s death, where a struggle was heard.
Roche was wearing a balaclava to hide his identity, he left the property and climbed over fences to escape, and this was also caught on CCTV. After a search of the nearby properties, officers spotted a small trace of blood on one of the fences Roche used to escape after the murder.
The blood was forensically tested and came back as a match to Direece Roche. A small torch was found also harbouring Roche’s DNA profile.
Although Roche admitted to killing Fintan, he claimed he was acting in self-defence and didn’t intend on hurting him.
In 2011 Roche, aged 16, was convicted of the murder of a 23-year-old man on New Years Day.
Detective Inspector Lee Shaw of GMP’s Major Incident Team, who was the Senior Investigating Officer, said: “The investigation team worked tirelessly to identify evidence which linked Roche to the murder of Mr McDwyer. The CCTV recording at the home was crucial in identifying what happened to Mr McDwyer and assisted us in building a thorough timeline of events.
“The attack was nothing short of horrific and Fintan’s loved ones have had to suffer the horrendous consequences. They have shown incredible strength during this trial.
“As police officers, we always want to bring justice to families of victims. We are pleased that this sentencing may offer Mr McDwyer’s family a very small amount of comfort and allow for them to have an element of closure in such tragic circumstances.”
