Convicted killer has suspended portion of sentence revoked

By Declan Brennan

A double killer convicted of murder earlier this year has had the suspended portion of a previous sentence imposed for manslaughter revoked.

Derek Boyd (31) shot his sister Sandra Boyd dead in a tragic accident in March 2022. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and in December 2022 Judge Pauline Codd imposed a five year sentence with the final three years suspended.

Boyd with former addresses at Scribblestown Place, Finglas, Dublin and Collins Place, Finglas, was still serving the suspended part of this sentence in June 2024 when he fatally stabbed father-of-four Mark Carroll (34) in the chest.

Last week, Judge Martin Nolan imposed a one-year sentence on Boyd for punching a man outside a Dublin pub in April 2024.

He had pleaded guilty to assault with intent to cause bodily harm.

Yesterday, Boyd appeared before Judge Pauline Codd at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A defending barrister told the court that Boyd was not contesting the application by the Director of Public Prosecutions to have the suspended portion of his sentence revoked.

Judge Codd said the court would accede to the application.

There were a number of people in court for the hearing to support Boyd.

The manslaughter hearing in 2022 was told Boyd sourced the semi-automatic pistol and live rounds of ammunition because he was concerned for his own and his family’s safety as a result of a threats made to him.

Boyd told gardaí that by killing his 36-year-sister – a mother of five – through an accidental discharge of an illegally-held loaded semi-automatic pistol last March, he committed “an unpardonable sin” for which he will pay for the rest of his life.

At Boyd’s sentence hearing, his mother, Teresa Boyd, asked the judge to let her son out of prison.

She said the fatal shooting shattered their family and left her son “broken beyond compare”.

“He will relive this nightmare for the rest of his life.

“He will struggle to live his life. I wish I could turn back time and have all my children be with me,” she said.