DEFENCE lawyers for an Irishman cleared of murdering a partygoer on a ‘booze cruise’ ship have described as vindictive the decision to re-try him for manslaughter.

AN Irishman acquitted of murder in the United States would chop off his right arm if it would bring back a man he threw overboard a party cruise ship, his defence lawyer said yesterday.

An Irish man accused of killing a passenger on a party boat by throwing him into the San Francisco Bay has been found not guilty of murder charges, but a jury deadlocked on one charge each of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.

TWELVE jury members were last night deliberating on the fate of an Irishman who faces 25 years to life in a United States jail after being accused of murder.