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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Michael O'Toole

Unseen photo shows Graham Dwyer celebrating 40th birthday weeks after murdering Elaine O'Hara as he turns 50 in prison

Depraved convicted killer Graham Dwyer celebrates a milestone birthday today – as he turns 50 behind bars.

But the monster, serving life for one the most gruesome murders in modern Irish history, will have a normal day in the Midlands Prison – just like the 3,253 he has already served in custody since he was arrested over the 2012 murder of tragic Elaine O’Hara, 36.

Sources say he will have no visitors in the prison – but can get himself a treat in the tuck shop if he wishes.

Read More: Murderer Graham Dwyer's professional address as architect switched to Laois where he is jailed

It’s a far cry from his 40th birthday back in September 2012 – which he celebrated less than a month after murdering Ms O’Hara in the Dublin Mountains on August 22 that year.

This exclusive photo shows Dwyer celebrating that birthday in his native Cork.

The pervert looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world as he knocks back white wine at the birthday bash surrounded by balloons and childhood pictures.

Wearing a white t-shirt and a novelty birthday badge, Dwyer looks like any other family man celebrating a milestone.

But in reality his family and friends were sitting alongside a monster who had just committed one of Ireland’s most calculated killings.

The snap was taken on September 15, 2012 — shortly after he murdered the childcare worker.

Undated handout photo issued by the Garda Press Office of Elaine O'Hara (PA Wire)

Dwyer, who maintains his innocence and is set to have his murder appeal heard later this year, has not had a single day of freedom since he was arrested at his then home in Foxrock, south Dublin on October 17, 2013.

It’s now the ninth birthday he has had in custody – but if he wins his December appeal against his March 27, 2015 conviction for Ms O’Hara’s murder, it could be his last. If the Court of Appeal accepts his challenge against his conviction, the three-judge panel could order his immediate release.

The State is fighting the appeal and wants him to serve the rest of his life sentence – but the judges will have the final say.

Graham Dwyer (Collins)

Dwyer, an architect and father of three who is originally from Bandon in Co Cork, had the chances of his appeal being successful bolstered when the European Court of Justice ruled in April that phone evidence crucial to the Garda case against him was contrary to EU law.

Dwyer was convicted largely because of records from two phones that the State claimed he used to groom Elaine for murder.

The messages and data taken from the phones was a key plank in the case against Dwyer – and showed that he was obsessed with rape and murder and lured Elaine to her death in the south Dublin mountains.

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