Judge to inspect victim statement after teen found guilty of manslaughter

A judge at the Central Criminal Court has said he will now have to read a written victim impact statement from the family of a Dublin man who was stabbed to death, before deciding whether to reject all or part of it.

In a clear reference to the controversial Robert Holohan case, Mr Justice Eamon de Valera spoke of: “The matter which caused great controversy last week, a matter which I have some reservations about.”

He was speaking after a Dublin teenager who stabbed and slashed a father-of-two fourteen times in the head, neck, stomach and chest was convicted of manslaughter by a jury in an unanimous verdict.

Mr Justice de Valera said: “I don’t want to appear unsympathetic to the family because the family in this case has suffered the most.”

However, he said he would now have to see the family’s proposed statement in writing before deciding whether to reject all or part of it.

Prosecution barrister Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley said he would consult with the family about whether they wished to make a statement and would ask them to put this in writing.

The jury in the week-long trial took several hours and was sent to a hotel last night before finding the accused, who was 17 at the time of the incident, not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Michael Murphy (aged 31) outside the Buddha Bar in Blanchardstown on Halloween night, 2004.

Counsel for the accused, Paul Burns SC had contended his client did not intend to kill Mr Murphy at earlier assaults and taunts from the deceased had provoked him into losing control.

The accused claimed he had taken a knife from Mr Murphy’s pocket to carry out the fatal assault, however the prosecution had said it rejected this version of events as unbelievable and self-serving.

During the trial, pathologist Dr Declan Gilsenan said the deceased had received eight knife wounds to his head and neck area.

He had also been stabbed in the chest, stomach and arms.

Dr Gilsenan said Mr Murphy would have been bleeding substantially and he died as a result of stab wounds to his stomach and thorax.

David Somers, a security man who arrived at the scene said he found Mr Murphy in a very bad state.

He was bleeding very heavily and part of his head had come away from his skull. He also saw cuts to the victim’s chest when he lifted up his jumper. He did what he could with a first aid kit.

Detective Sergeant Liam Kelly said the accused was shown CCTV footage of the attack during an interview at Blanchardstown garda station on November 1st 2004.

He identified himself in the video stabbing Mr Murphy.

“I am stabbing him there I think. I am running around after him but then I stopped,” he said.

Some later footage showed the accused with two of his friends.

When gardaí asked him why they were chasing Mr Murphy, he said his friends were trying to pull him back.

He still had the knife in his pocket and he said it was his intention to give the deceased “a few digs after he was screaming at me, ‘You’re dead’.”

He later identified himself with the knife in his hand: “I’m digging him and probably slashed him a few times.”

He accepted the accused was running away from him at this point but said: “Yes, but he was chasing me earlier.”

After the knife attack, the accused admitted he stayed and kicked Mr Murphy.

Asked whether he was shocked by what he did he said: “I didn’t mean to kill him. Nobody deserves to die.”

The accused was remanded in continuing detention and is due to be sentenced on April 28 next.

The family of the deceased wept as the jury's decision was read out.