Murder accused gives evidence in court

A 22 year-old Carlow man told gardai that he struck out at a teenage father-of-one, stabbing him repeatedly because the younger man had "tried to rape" his mother.

John Dillon (aged 22), of Granby Row, Carlow, denies a charge of the murder of Warren Slater (17) outside a house they rented in Granby Row, Carlow on May 13, 2001.

At the time of the incident Warren Slater lived with his girlfriend Ms Louise Heary and their six-month-old baby in a downstairs bedsit of the same house in which John Dillon lived with his mother Noeleen and his sister Cathy.

Dillon also told gardai that he had been on medication prior to the incident to control his temper and repeatedly said that he never meant to kill Mr Slater.

Giving evidence on the fifth day of his trial at the Central Criminal Court today, Detective Sergeant James Ryan told the court that following Mr Slater’s death, Dillon made a number of admissions when approached by gardai.

"He came at me, I thought he was going to stab me," Dillon told Det Sgt Ryan.

Pointing out a prick mark he had on the back of his wrist he continued, "I didn’t mean to stab him. I will go to jail, I did not mean to kill him."

Dillon told gardai that on the night of the stabbing, Slater taunted him for telling their letting agent that he had carried out a sexual assault on Dillon’s mother Noleen.

"He said ‘you are the one who told Maura (the letting agent) about me and your mother,’" he told gardai.

"He had one of his hands behind his back, I thought he had a knife because he always carries one with him. The landlord took one off him, maybe a couple of days ago, Thursday or Friday," the statement continued

"I said to him 'if you don’t go away from me I’m going to stab you. He wouldn’t listen to me so I ran into the house, went to the kitchen and picked up a big knife'."

Dillon told gardai that he returned outside with the knife and was "swerving the knife" at Warren.

"I wasn’t meaning to stab him but whatever way he swung towards me, the knife went into him," he said.

In a later statement he said, "I thought then what he had done to my mother and I stabbed him twice more in the back".

The deputy state pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy has told the trial that the deceased choked on his own blood after receiving three stab wounds, to the neck, the shoulder and the back of the chest.

She said the cause of death was haemorrhage and inhalation of blood due to the stab wound to his neck, and as a contributory factor, the stab wound to his chest.

When asked if he would have done things differently if he had a second chance, he said, "I can’t really say. I get into a temper, I think I will have to sign myself into the mental, I lose my temper easily and do things I wouldn’t normally do".

He explained that a year earlier he had been taking medication to deal with his temper.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice White and a jury.