Jury finds accused not guilty of murder

A MAN who told gardaí he stabbed another man with two knives after finding the victim in bed with his ex-girlfriend and child has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

John Flaherty, aged 25, of Ard Daire, Ferrybank, Waterford, denied the murder of Patrick Murphy, aged 27, which was alleged to have taken place early on June 20, 2006.

Following a five-day trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Waterford, a jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter after nearly three hours of deliberations.

Flaherty will be sentenced on November 25 following the preparation of victim impact reports. He has been remanded in custody until that date.

The trial heard Flaherty arrived at the home of his “on/off girlfriend” and mother of his three children, Amy Quigley, at about 5am on June 20, 2006.

On entering her bedroom, he found Ms Quigley asleep with one of their children — aged two at the time — and Mr Murphy. The accused told gardaí both Ms Quigley and Mr Murphy were naked.

He punched Mr Murphy and then went downstairs, intending to leave. Instead, he took two knives from a cutlery box and went back to the bedroom and stabbed Mr Murphy, inflicting a 22cm wound to his abdomen.

This was the fatal wound, state pathologist Marie Cassidy said on Wednesday. The victim also suffered multiple superficial and incise wounds to his head, back, legs and arms.

Flaherty told gardaí after he was arrested later that day he “snapped” when he saw the three people asleep.

Closing the case yesterday, Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, defending, argued that there was provocation, his client totally lost self-control and so should be acquitted of the murder charge.

There was evidence of Mr Murphy being a heroin user and stashing heroin in Ms Quigley’s house, counsel said.

“You put yourselves in the shoes of Mr Flaherty,” he told the jury. “You try to get inside his mind and you try to understand the million and one thoughts that were going through his head when he walks into his on/off girlfriend and the mother of his three children’s bed and sees a heroin addict lying naked in the bed next to his on/off girlfriend, with his child in the bed,” said Mr Ó Lideadha.

Patrick McCarthy SC, prosecuting, said Mr Murphy was “not a threat to anyone” when he was in bed. “There was nothing sudden when he first approached Mr Murphy. He punched him. To actually go towards the door, stop, turn and go towards the knives is an operating mind. If he just comes out and hits Mr Murphy, that would be it, end of story, we wouldn’t be here, a lot of grief would have been avoided.”