Court reserves judgement in man's appeal against severity of sentence for killing his stepson

The Court of Appeal has today reserved its judgement in an appeal taken by David Mahon over the severity of his seven-year sentence for killing his stepson.

Mr Mahon of Ongar Village in Clonsilla in Dublin has spent almost a year and a half in prison after being found guilty of Dean Fitzpatrick’s manslaughter.

Mr Fitzpatrick died from a stab wound to the body inflicted outside Mr Mahon’s apartment on May 25, 2013.

His trial heard they were arguing about a stolen water bottle.

Mr Mahon, who is married to Dean’s mother Audrey, claimed his stepson pulled a knife on him.

He told gardaí that he disarmed him and claimed he must have walked into it when he produced it later to illustrate a point.

In opening the appeal today, his barrister Sean Guerin accused the judge of wrongly assessing his client’s level of culpability for sentencing.

He also criticised her for the way she assessed some of the aggravating factors.

The disposal of the knife afterwards for example was described as “significant”, but he does not feel that was the case and said the prosecution could have easily found a matching knife for experts to examine.

The court has reserved its judgement to a later date.