Murder of Jennifer Poole

Jennifer Poole, 24, was stabbed to death at her first-floor apartment on Melville Drive in Finglas, north Dublin, on 17 April 2021 at around 2pm. Neighbours raised the alarm and emergency services attended the scene before she was taken to Connolly Hospital, where she died a short time later. Her cause of death was recorded as haemorrhage and shock due to multiple stab wounds.

The attack was carried out by her ex-partner, Gavin Murphy, from Ballymun. Murphy and Poole had met in May 2020 and he had moved into her home in Melville Drive; the relationship had ended by the time of the killing in April 2021.

At Murphy's sentencing, the court heard he had 13 previous convictions, including for using a mobile phone while in custody, unlawful seizure of a vehicle, criminal damage, burglary, production of an article in the course of a dispute, and two counts of assault causing harm. It was during the court proceedings that Poole's family learned for the first time that Murphy had a history of violence against women, having previously been jailed for two years for attacking a former partner and her mother with a knife in 2015. Murphy received the mandatory life sentence for murder. Sentencing, Justice Paul Burns described the case as "yet another case of a violent attack upon a young woman" by a male partner with fatal consequences.

Poole, originally from the Ballygall area of Finglas, worked as a healthcare worker at Beneavin Lodge Care Home and played camogie with local club Erin's Isle.

Following the murder, Poole's brother, Jason Poole, became a public advocate for stronger legal protections against domestic violence. Speaking at a vigil in Ballymun held after the murder of Ashling Murphy, he called on the Irish government to strengthen legislation to keep women safe and urged parents and guardians to educate children that violence is unacceptable. Outside the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin after the verdict, he said domestic violence in Ireland "has become far too common" and called on those affected by domestic violence to seek help and support, urging people to speak to gardaí or contact relevant organisations. He also called for the implementation of a domestic violence register in Ireland, similar to the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme ("Clare's Law") used in the United Kingdom.

On 22 June 2022, Jason Poole appeared on the Claire Byrne Show alongside Jim O'Callaghan, a Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Bay South and the party's spokesman for Justice, to discuss proposed legislation addressing violence against women. He stated that had such a disclosure law existed, he could have gone to a Garda station and learned of Murphy's prior history before his sister was killed. Commentators have drawn comparisons between this case and the murder of Valerie French by her husband, in which Valerie French's brother, David, similarly called for law reform.