Tears meet verdict over screwdriver murders

AN eerie silence in courtroom 19 of the Central Criminal Court was only broken by cries of relief.

The chilling three-and-half-week murder trial of two Dublin youths for the brutal stabbing to death of two Polish men had come to an emotional end.

Relatives of both the accused and the dead men sat on opposite sides of the courtroom.

For the family of victim Pawel Kalite there were tears as the jury found David Curran, 19, guilty of the double murder of the Polish mechanic and his friend, Marius Szwajkos.

A shocked court had heard how Curran used a screwdriver to stab both men through the head.

For the family of Curran’s co-accused, Sean Keogh, 21, there were tears of relief as he was found not guilty on both murder counts.

The jury of eight women and four men took nearly six hours to make their decision, finding Curran guilty of murdering Mr Kalite by a unanimous verdict and guilty of murdering Mr Szwajkos by an 11 to one majority.

Mr Kalite’s sister, Agnieszka, buried her head in her hands and wept as the verdict was delivered. Her brother’s killer, Curran, looked unmoved initially and simply stared straight ahead. Then his dark eyes silently swelled up with tears and his barrister comforted him. The red-haired youth’s family were nowhere to be seen.

The court had heard dramatic evidence of the hours leading up to the fatal Saturday night in February 2008, when a fight outside a Drimnagh chipper led to the deaths of the Polish men.

Curran himself said that after a day of bingeing on drink and drugs with other youths, the then 17-year-old had been “out of his head”. He claimed he lost control after wrongly believing his father was stabbed that night in an earlier row with Mr Kalite.

During the last two days, with the deciding jury coming in and out of court, Curran and his co-accused, Keogh, never spoke or looked at each other.

In the Garda inquiry, Curran had initially denied any role in the attack and put the blame on Keogh.

Keogh, while found not guilty of the murders, faces a sentence over assault later this month after admitting he kicked Mr Kalite in the head as he fell to the ground on the night.

But for the families of the dead Polish men, there was no comfort. Mr Kalite’s sister said she was too upset to speak. Other relatives of the men were unable to attend court because of travel restrictions due to the volcanic ash cloud.

Curran will today be sentenced for the double murder and could face more years than his current age behind bars.