Latest news with #Duff
1News
21-07-2025
- 1News
'Loving relationship': Defence denies DeLuney fell out with mother
Julia DeLuney's defence says there's no evidence of a breakdown in the relationship between her and her mother, Helen Gregory, that would explain a murder. DeLuney is on trial at the High Court in Wellington charged with murdering the 79-year-old at her Khandallah home in January 2024, which she denies. The Crown finished its closing argument on Friday, arguing DeLuney had been stealing cash from her mother and then violently attacked her, leaving her dead or dying, perhaps following a confrontation about money. But defence lawyer Quentin Duff said there was no evidence of a breakdown in the relationship between DeLuney and her mother. There was only evidence, he said, of "an ordinary and loving relationship, albeit with its own problems". ADVERTISEMENT He asked the jury not to accept that they were being asked to decide that DeLuney had killed her mother, without knowing why. He argued the police investigation had failed to consider other suspects - by 7 February, it had narrowed down to DeLuney only. Helen Gregory. (Source: "Of course she should have been a suspect," Duff said. "In none of our cross examination have we criticised that." But he said there should have been two others - the first, a mysterious person who knocked on the door of a house further up the street that same night but left before the homeowner answered. The second was someone who left a coffee cup in a pot plant at Gregory's address, which Duff said was never investigated, and should have been. The Crown argued on Friday it was DeLuney who took that money, and she who put the idea of the handyman being the culprit in her mother's head. ADVERTISEMENT Duff drew the jury's attention to the "myth" of the attic fall, which had "perpetuated itself right throughout the way of this investigation, through to this trial". He said DeLuney had told them about the fall, but had never claimed that had been the cause of death - rather, the police had latched onto that, and worked to disprove it. "They were hellbent, you might think, on disproving and exposing Ms DeLuney for being a liar." He also accused the police of inserting themselves into the story, to make judgement calls on what DeLuney had done. But he said DeLuney's decisions made sense when you considered what we had heard about the people involved. The court heard that, on a past occasion, Gregory had fallen out of her bed - therefore, it made sense for DeLuney to put her on the floor. It heard her Gregory hated hospitals, and was scared of being put in a home. On top of that, DeLuney was scared of being blamed for letting her mother climb into the attic in the first place - so it made sense that she didn't call an ambulance. ADVERTISEMENT And it made sense, Duff said, that DeLuney would leave her mother to fetch her husband, Antonio - if the injury was minor, and all she needed was monitoring overnight, it would be "a load shared" to fetch someone who happened to know CPR, Duff said. "That's common sense." The defence's closing argument continues this afternoon.
Otago Daily Times
21-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Murder accused had 'loving relationship' with mother
By Kate Green of RNZ Julia DeLuney's defence says there's no evidence of a breakdown in the relationship between her and her mother, Helen Gregory, that would explain a murder. DeLuney is on trial at the High Court in Wellington charged with murdering the 79-year-old at her Khandallah home in January 2024, which she denies. The Crown finished its closing argument on Friday, arguing DeLuney had been stealing cash from her mother and then violently attacked her, leaving her dead or dying, perhaps following a confrontation about money. But defence lawyer Quentin Duff said there was no evidence of a breakdown in the relationship between DeLuney and her mother. There was only evidence, he said, of "an ordinary and loving relationship, albeit with its own problems". He asked the jury not to accept that they were being asked to decide that DeLuney had killed her mother, without knowing why. He argued the police investigation had failed to consider other suspects - by 7 February, it had narrowed down to DeLuney only. "Of course she should have been a suspect," Duff said. "In none of our cross examination have we criticised that." But he said there should have been two others - the first, a mysterious person who knocked on the door of a house further up the street that same night, but left before the homeowner answered. The second was a contractor who had previously worked for Gregory, and who she had suspected had taken money from her in the past. The Crown argued on Friday it was DeLuney who took that money, and she who put the idea of the handyman being the culprit in her mother's head. Duff drew the jury's attention to the "myth" of the attic fall, which had "perpetuated itself right throughout the way of this investigation, through to this trial". He said DeLuney had told them about the fall, but had never claimed that had been the cause of death - rather, the police had latched onto that, and worked to disprove it. "They were hellbent, you might think, on disproving and exposing Ms DeLuney for being a liar." He also accused the police of inserting themselves into the story, to make judgement calls on what DeLuney had done. But he said DeLuney's decisions made sense when you considered what we had heard about the people involved. The court heard that, on a past occasion, Gregory had fallen out of her bed - therefore, it made sense for DeLuney to put her on the floor. It heard her Gregory hated hospitals, and was scared of being put in a home. On top of that, DeLuney was scared of being blamed for letting her mother climb into the attic in the first place - so it made sense that she didn't call an ambulance. And it made sense, Duff said, that DeLuney would leave her mother to fetch her husband, Antonio - if the injury was minor, and all she needed was monitoring overnight, it would be "a load shared" to fetch someone who happened to know CPR, Duff said. "That's common sense." The defence's closing argument continues this afternoon.
The National
18-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
Surprise Damien Duff Celtic return suggestion floated
The contract of the current Parkhead boss expires at the end of the forthcoming season. And if he doesn't stay beyond his deal, Nevin thinks Duff, who was a coach at Celtic during Neil Lennon's second spell, could be an ideal replacement: "It would work for Damien Duff," he said [ "He played for the Republic of Ireland - a big link there with a lot of the Celtic fans as well. Read more: "Would they like a big name sometimes? They most probably would - Ange Postecoglou or someone? But when you give somebody a good chance at that level, they've done their years of coaching elsewhere, they've done the hard yards. "And also you give them a good job, which is right. Here's quite a lot of money in comparison to everybody else in your league. Here's a good team as well. It must be a temptation. "But it won't come down to the heart, it'll come down to the head with Celtic. They'll look around the world, and they'll probably have quite a few more names. Because remember, Ange wasn't in the top 10 in the betting when they brought him in." Duff recently departed his post as manager of Shelbourne, despite leading them to the Irish top-flight title last year.
Irish Examiner
17-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Duff Shels exit almost derailed Boyd's wedding plans
Damien Duff's abrupt departure from Shelbourne almost scuppered Seán Boyd's engagement plans but he's thankful to the legend for guiding him towards funding the wedding. Boyd hit double-figures as Shels won the league for the first time in 18 years last season but his mentor Duff sensationally quit last month just a fortnight before their Champions League campaign was to kick-off. Duff's assistant Joey O'Brien stepped up to steer the Reds through the first round against Linfield, completing a 2-1 aggregate victory over Linfield on Wednesday in Belfast. That swelled their prize-money from Uefa to €1.71m. Double that is on offer if they win one of the three ties they've secured by navigating the first hurdle of the champions path. Players and staff will receive a slice of that windfall in bonuses – typically 25% shared equally – and Boyd has joked that his new fiancé Kristin has earmarked it for their nuptials. His proposal plans were almost derailed when Duff quit on Sunday, June 22, three days before he'd booked a stayover at the plush K-Club to pop the question. 'When he left, I was like, 'That fucker, what am I supposed to do here?',' he said jokingly after the Duffer departure. 'It was a mad time so I was all over the place and it kind of distracted me a little bit. I love my partner to bits so it was the next step.' Wage levels in LOI have risen in tandem with the popularity growth but are still modest by comparison with other similar sized countries. Where players can scoop windfalls is through the bonuses accrued from progression in Europe. That seemed an avenue for Boyd when he was emerging as a teen star at Shamrock Rovers but injuries punctuated his career while many of his friends enjoyed the fruits of advancing through European competition. One of those is his teammate since last year, Seán Gannon. His substitute appearance at Windsor Park was his 58th in Europe, taking him to within five of Ronan Finn's all-time record for a League of Ireland player. He could surpass that in the six upcoming games, starting with next week's second round first leg against Qarabag at Tolka Park. Gannon was part of the Dundalk squad which qualified for the 2016 Europa League group stages as well as the Conference with Rovers two years ago. 'Ganno had been saying all week that there'll be a decent bonus from getting through a couple of European rounds,' explained Boyd. 'Some lads were able to use it as a house deposit. 'It's another incentive. I had said to her (Kristin) that potentially, if we get through rounds, we get this. And she's like, 'oh, lovely, that will pay for the wedding'. 'She's already spent everything but we've to buy a house as well. It is mad talking about those things but there's only one way in this league to maybe do that. 'Not many players get to do that, so we're delighted to win the first round.' Before their European adventure resumes, there's an occasion of a different sporting code dominating the family discussion. Boyd was at Tipperary's semi-final win over Kilkenny but snaffling tickets for this Sunday's All-Ireland decider at Croke Park is a whole other ball game. 'She's from Tipp and brought me to my first hurling match at Croke Park,' said the Dub. 'I felt like a blow-in, you know but it was brilliant. 'I don't know if I'll be able to get tickets for Sunday. I'd feel too bad. Her uncles and everything would be like mad for it, and if I was to get tickets off someone I'd know now or something, I'd have to get them away. We'll see.'
Irish Daily Mirror
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Linfield v Shelbourne: Time, TV channel, streaming info and more
There are millions of euros at stake as Shelbourne take on Linfield in their second leg of their Champions League qualifier this evening. New Shels manager Joey O'Brien has done a good job post-Damien Duff as he has reduced the noise around the club following the unexpected departure and will be looking for a businesslike performance from his side this evening. Shelbourne hold a slender 1-0 aggregate lead going into the second leg, but were the dominant side in Tolka Park last week. The Reds are in the middle of their season compared to Linfield, who are only still in official pre-season preparations. But a trip to Belfast is never going to be easy, and Linfield will be hoping to flip the script. Last week's game was shown on RTE but the broadcaster did not secure rights for the second leg and it is only available to stream in the Republic of Ireland. Here are all the details you need to know. Where is the game on? The game takes place at Windsor Park in Belfast. What time is kick-off? The game kicks off at 7.45 pm. What TV channel is it on and can I stream it? The game is only available to live stream through Linfield's own streaming service at a cost of €15. You can purchase the game HERE. Betting Odds Linfield 6/4 Draw 11/5 Shelbourne 6/4
