Brazilian Deliveroo Driver Found Not Guilty Of Murdering A Ballymun Teenager

Tuesday, 14 June 2022 15:34

By Caoimhe Harney

The man admitted stabbing the Ballymun teenager but insisted he was acting in self-defence.

A Brazilian Deliveroo driver has been found NOT guilty of murdering 16-year-old Josh Dunne during a fight over a stolen bike in the East Wall area of Dublin last year.

George Gonzaga Bento, who was living in Dublin 3 at the time, admitted stabbing the Ballymun teenager but insisted he was acting in self-defence.

CCTV footage of the fight that led to Josh Dunne’s death showed George Gonzaga Bento and his friend approaching a man on a moped on East Wall Rd.

They suspected he had stolen a fellow food delivery man’s bike.

A group of young boys on bikes arrived at the scene moments later. An older men arrived on foot soon afterwards and all of them got involved. Josh Dunne included.

Bento insisted he had no intention of hurting anyone, claiming the knife he used to cut fruit with became a means with which to defend himself and his friend.

Self-defence can completely clear a person of wrongdoing if it can be shown that it was justified and that reasonable force was used and that was the outcome in this case.

Bento was also cleared of assault causing harm to two others and of producing a knife during the fight with the intention of intimidating another person.

After a year and a half in custody, he’s now free to walk out the courthouse door.

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