Gleeson found not guilty in murder trial

A jury at the Central Criminal court have found a Dublin man has been found not guilty of the fatal stabbing of another man outside an off licence in Ballyfermot.

The jury of nine men and three women took just less than five hours to find Gary Gleeson (aged 23) of Lisryan, Granard, Co Longford not guilty of the murder of 19-year-old Gavin "Sponge" Weldon outside Molloy's Off Licence in Ballyfermot on the evening of July 5, 2005.

Both families cried as the verdict was read out.

During the trial, the jury heard that Mr Gleeson's fiancée was working the night shift as a care assistant in Cherry Orchard Hospital on the night of the incident.

Mr Gleeson and his brother had driven up to the hospital to bring her some lunch and some cigarettes and, as it was a fine summer's evening, decided to bring the two pit bulls the couple owned on a long walk.

The court heard that Gavin Weldon had spent the day drinking. He had been moved on by gardaí who found him drinking in the grounds of a local school and at some point during the evening was alleged to have thrown a rock through a neighbour's window.

He met up with some friend's outside the local chip shop beside Molloy's off licence.

One of them, Mr Michael Grendon told the court that "Sponge" had been a "buzzy" person who was always in high spirits. He told the court Mr Weldon was drinking vodka mixed with the energy drink Boost out of a vodka bottle.

He gave Mr Weldon money to get a drink and gave him a bite of his sandwich. At this point the Gleeson brothers were waiting to cross the road by Molloy's when someone shouted "The state of your pit bulls!"

Mr Gleeson told the court he thought the remark was a joke and replied in kind.

He did not hear any malice in the comment and shouted back: "Yeah, I know" and continued crossing the road.

Gavin Weldon then shouted: "What do you mean, I know?" The jury were shown CCTV footage of Mr Weldon running towards the Gleeson brothers with a bottle raised over his head.

Mr Weldon caught up with Mr Gleeson as he tried to run away and tried to trip him up, kicking off one of Mr Gleeson's trainers in the process. He then brought down the vodka bottle on Mr Gleeson's head.

Mr Gleeson let go of the dog and turned to ward off Mr Weldon. As they struggled a knife fell to the ground from Mr Weldon's pocket. Both men reached for the knife but Mr Gleeson managed to grab it first.

Mr Weldon did not fall back when he saw Mr Gleeson holding the knife and continued coming with the bottle raised. Mr Gleeson told the court he did not realise he had stabbed Mr Weldon until he noticed the blood on the blade of the knife.

During the trial the court heard that Mr Gleeson seemed to be suffering from depression since the incident. He no longer worked as a goldsmith and had become withdrawn and preoccupied.

The court heard that the Gleeson family had to leave Ballyfermot in the wake of threats against their lives. Mr Gleeson's father described coming home after at night after his work as a taxi driver to find people lying on the grass at the side of the road, watching the house. They now live in Longford.

Mr Gleeson's fiancée, Ms Natasha White told the court that they had to stop saving for the house they were hoping to buy as he was no longer working.

She is expecting the couple's first child in a couple of months. She said Mr Gleeson had always been a happy man who laughed and joked but this hardly ever happened any more.

Ms Justice Quirke thanked the jury and excused them from further jury service for the next 10 years.