Sentencing due in Irishtown manslaughter case

A 20 year-old South Dublin man who killed his friend with a single stab wound in a row between the two will be sentenced by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court tomorrow morning.

Mark Green, of Tritonville Road, Sandymount, was found guilty by a jury in April of this year of the manslaughter of Alan Young, then aged 19. The killing happened near Bremen Road, Irishtown on March 11, 2007.

Green, an apprentice plumber with no previous convictions, had been tried for murder but the jury acquitted him of that charge and convicted him of manslaughter.

Detective Garda Maeve O’Sullivan told Mr Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, that Green and Mr Young, who lived in Irishtown, had been friends for up to three years before the killing.

Tensions arose between the two men on the weekend of Mr Young’s death when the deceased slapped Green in the face. They were involved in a further altercation on the same night which led Green to arm himself with a knife.

The court heard that, although there were a number of witnesses to the incident, no one saw the fatal blow. Green told gardaí that he was simply waving the knife when Mr Young lunged at him causing the knife to go into the side of his chest.

Green fled the scene and was found blood stained by gardaí. He said he had tried and failed to wave down a garda car and was heading to the River Liffey to throw himself in.

Det Gda O’Sullivan said Green cooperated fully with gardaí and immediately admitted the stabbing. He had offered a plea of guilty to manslaughter which was rejected by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Det Gda O’Sullivan said that in early March 2007 Green’s parents were on holiday leaving the then 19 year-old with a “free gaff”. A “minor difficulty” arose between the two men when Green refused to allow Mr Young in to the house with a female companion on the Friday before Mr Young’s death.

On the following evening a large number of young people were in the Irishtown House pub where Mr Young slapped Green in the face.

Mr Young had believed that Green had spread entirely untrue rumours about him in relation to drug dealing.

Det Gda O’Sullivan said Green did not react to the slap and left the pub in an annoyed state. He went to a friend’s house on Bremen Road and said that “everyone was against him”.

Green and that friend took a moped out for a drive nearby but the friend crashed the bike at around 12.30am. Mr Young and a number of other people arrived at the scene of the crash and had a verbal row with Green which became physical.

The court heard that Green “came off worse” in the fight and Det Gda O’Sullivan agreed with Mr Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that Green had not fought back at all when attacked.

Green left the scene, went to his friend’s house on Bremen Road and took a sharp knife from the kitchen. He returned to his bike to discover it had been vandalised. Green remarked that Mr Young’s life would not be worth living.

Mr Young had left the scene but was called back by people who had remained there and had heard Green’s threat. Det Gda O’Sullivan agreed with Mr Grehan that Green was goaded into repeating the threat to Mr Young which led to a further altercation during which Mr Young was killed.

Green returned to the house from which he had taken the knife, washed it and put it in a bin. He then headed towards the Docklands area and was stopped by gardaí. Det Gda O’Sullivan said Green was distressed and suffering from injuries such as cuts and bruises to his face.

Green told gardaí he was responsible for his friend’s death and said it had happened after Mr Young had “kicked the head off me twice”.

Mr Grehan told Mr Justice Carney that the men had met aged 16 and there had previously been no serious problems between them. He produced a medical report on Green dated 2002 which diagnosed him as suffering from symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder and Asperger Syndrome.

Mr Grehan said Green had been severely bullied at school and had been beaten up by males and females without ever striking out in retaliation.

Mr Grehan described the offence as “involuntary manslaughter” which lacked any element of intention. He said Green’s remorse was “palpable".

Three of Mr Young’s sisters told Mr Carney of the devastation and loss their family had experienced. Vanessa Young said her family had stopped living and had talked about “ending it all”. She said she now only leaves her house to visit Alan’s grave three times per week.

Leslie Young said her family would never forgive Mark Green. Alan Young was described as a “beautiful young man whose smile would light up any room”.

Family friends of Green told Mr Justice Carney that he was an extremely pleasant, honourable, friendly and respectful young man who was absolutely devastated by what had happened.

Mr Justice Carney adjourned the case and remanded Green in custody for sentence this morning.