Niall Dorr: Inside the case of Dundalk teen as killing…

Niall Dorr: Inside the case of Dundalk teen as killing is covered on RTE's The Case I Can't Forget

Retired Detective Inspector Pat Marry will feature tonight (Monday) on the RTÉ One programme The Case I Can’t Forget.

The series features first-hand accounts of detectives who have worked on difficult investigations.

The episode called ‘A Hometown Killing’ will focus on the death of Niall Dorr.

13 years on from the brutal death, former Detective Inspector Pat Marry recalls, clue by clue, his investigation into the violent death of the Dundalk teenager.

What happened to Niall Dorr?

Innocent Niall died after being savagely beaten on the night of October, 13, 2010, on Castle Road, Dundalk, Co Louth.

Eyewitnesses called 999 when they discovered 18-year-old Niall lying unconscious on Castle Road.

Niall and two friends were walking home at around 9pm when they were approached by a group, including a man named Douglas Ward, and a row broke out.

On the morning of his killing, the teenager had just attended an interview to join the Defence Forces after passing the fitness test.

Mr Dorr was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, where his condition deteriorated rapidly.

He was transferred to Beaumont Hospital and doctors there found he had irreversible brain damage.

The investigation to find Niall’s killers fell to Pat Marry, who had only been promoted to the rank of Detective Inspector at the time.

Niall’s father David went straight to the hospital, where doctors assessed Niall’s injuries and concluded he could never recover.

Investigations revealed one man was responsible for the brutal attack.

In a victim impact statement, Niall's father described the killing as cruel and heartless.

Who killed Niall Dorr?

Douglas Ward, a father of three, was jailed for the horrific killing of Niall Dorr, 18, after subjecting him to a savage beating in Dundalk in 2010.

Niall was a champion kickboxer and had represented Ireland numerous times, winning a bronze medal in 2004 and a silver in 2009.

He had just completed an interview for a place in the Defence Forces.

The teenager had been acting as a peacemaker and trying to break up a row when Douglas Ward attacked him.

Mr Dorr attempted to stop the row when Mr Ward attacked him, repeatedly punching and kicking him in the head.

Ward, a father-of-three, didn’t know the schoolboy but he ripped the teen’s shirt off him and continued to attack him even when he was unresponsive.

Following the attack on Mr Dorr, Mr Ward reportedly went to an off-licence to buy more drinks.

DNA evidence pointed to Douglas Ward, who was charged with murdering Niall.

Douglas Ward was jailed for 16 years, with the last three years suspended after pleading guilty to manslaughter in 2012.

Ward, who had been in Dundalk for a bail hearing on the day of the horrific incident, had been drinking since the pubs opened that morning.

Detective Inspector Marry was able to build a case against Ward using DNA, and information collected from over 400 statements, as well as CCTV footage from various locations detailing the movements of the killer on the day.

Convicted killer Douglas Ward was found dead in his Mountjoy Prison cell in 2015 from a suspected overdose.

Ward was found sitting up in his bed with a cup of illegal prison brew hooch in his hand.

After Niall’s death, his devastated parents David and Veronica said: “Niall was the peacemaker and didn’t want harm to come to anyone but little did he know he was dealing with bloodthirsty thugs.

“To knock a person unconscious and then repeatedly bang his head off the ground and kick his lifeless body to a pulp is just the stuff of animals.”