Sentence hearing held for murderer Toland

A 34-year-old Dublin man who is serving a life sentence for murdering his friend is due to be sentenced today for stabbing another man through the heart.

Martin Toland, of Walkinstown Park, was convicted of murdering Alan Nolan at his Ballyfermot apartment in September 2007, by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last January.

Mr Nolan was knifed five times, the fatal wound was 11cm deep and penetrated his heart.

The jury also also found the accused guilty on a second charge of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to James Carroll (aged 30), on the same date.

Mr Carroll narrowly survived after sustaining life-threatening stab wounds to the heart and stomach and was the main witness in the case.

Mr Toland had denied both charges and claimed that the two men attacked him and he was acting in self-defence.

He said he was terrified of being attacked because he was on medication to thin his blood and could bleed to death quickly.

During the two week trial, the court heard that the three men had spent the evening in question drinking and playing cards at Alan Nolan's apartment.

A row broke out between the accused and Mr Nolan over a series of prank calls he had been receiving throughout the night.

Mr Toland claimed that that Mr Nolan was the first to produce the knife, but told Gardai he managed to get it from him and was using it to fend off the two men, whom he claimed were attacking him.

Both Mr Nolan and Mr Carroll sustained serious stab wounds. Mr Toland was unhurt, but rang an ambulance and remained at the scene until the emergency services arrived.

At the sentence hearing today, Mr Carroll took the witness stand to deliver a brief victim impact statement.

He said he thought he was going to Alan's house for a few drinks and a few laughs that night; “little did I know I'd be in an ambulance fighting for my life”.

Mr Carroll said he would never recover from the mental and physical scars that Martin Toland had inflicted on him, but that the “loss of Alan is the hardest part to deal with. Whatever happens, nothing will bring him back”.

The victim's mother, Marian Nolan, also took the stand to read her victim impact statement.

She said there were no words to describe the total devastation and despair that her family have lived through since Alan was brutally taken from them.

She said their grief was compounded by the fact that Martin Toland had been granted bail and lived just two minutes away from their home.

“We had to cope with this dreadful and inhumane situation...we were not even given the space and chance to grieve our child.”

She described Alan as a loving son a caring brother a funny uncle and a true friend.

Concluding her statement, she referred to the accused, saying: “You have never shown any remorse or once said the word 'sorry'. You have condemned us to a life without our son, something I can never forgive you for.”

The court heard that Mr Toland has 11 previous convictions for public order and road traffic offences.

His defence counsel, Mr Diarmuid McGuinness SC, asked the trial judge to take into consideration Mr Toland's “significant medical history”.

He also asked him to consider the accused's distress at the death of Mr Nolan, and the fact that he was “acutely conscious of the distress and grief this had caused Mr Nolan's family”.

He said the accused was both glad and relieved that Mr Carroll had survived and recovered and that if he had not called an ambulance, Mr Carroll would have died.

Mr Anthony Sammon SC for the prosecution said that the DPP felt the assault was at the upper end of the scale, and the maximum sentence for the offence was life.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy adjourned sentencing in the matter until today.