Cork man accused of stabbing his two brothers at their family home found not guilty

Jury took just one hour and 30 minutes to reach unanimous verdicts of not guilty on all charges against William Brennan

William Brennan has been found not guilty of assault causing serious harm to John Brennan and Jeremiah Brennan (junior), also known as Jerry, and producing a knife in the course of a dispute. File picture: Andy Gibson

“Someone dies today” and “They must be put down” were the words of the man accused of seriously stabbing his two brothers — captured on dashcam hours after his excavator had been burnt out and hours before the disputed assaults.

On Thursday, the jury of eight men and four women took one hour and 30 minutes at the end of a five-day trial to reach unanimous not guilty verdicts on all charges.

Explanations were given by defendant, William Brennan, who is an electrical engineer. He told gardaí who quizzed him on the dashcam recordings that, “They must be put down”, was a reference to ducts in a shed that needed to go down and he was not referring to his brothers.

As for the recorded comment, “Someone dies today”, he said this was a comment on the state of the road and the fact the rental car he and his father were travelling in was shaking from side to side.

Gardaí also questioned him about bringing a knife with him that evening — August 17 2024 — and he said he had completely forgotten he had it in his pocket and then by sheer fluke remembered it at the moment that, he claimed, his two brothers were assaulting him.

Prosecution barrister Imelda Kelly said: “He says he only remembered by chance during the attack and he had not been aware of the knife being in his pocket. I say that strains credulity.” 

Ms Kelly said his explanation for the comments he made that were recorded on the dashcam also strained credulity. However, she said this was a matter for the jury to decide.

Defence senior counsel Jane Hyland said: “There is a long history of difficulties between the parties. This is a family in and out of the courts. And it is not going to end today — John Brennan is suing William Brennan.” 

Ms Hyland said there was reasonable doubt in the case which would enable the jury to reach not guilty verdicts. For instance, she said John and Jerry Jr both said their father offered no assistance. However, she said an independent witness, Tim Connolly, said it was their father who flagged him down to render assistance. “If they are wrong about this, what else are they wrong or lying about?” Ms Hyland asked.

She said John and Jerry gave different accounts of when John struck William with a stick during the disputed incidents in the yard.

Ms Hyland said William only went to the property that evening to remove some circus-related items that were of personal value to him. She said he wanted to do this because his excavator was burnt that morning and he did not want to lose any more property.

'I have been tortured all my life'

When questioned by Garda Jonathan O’Donovan, who led the investigation, and gardaí Joe Maher, Peter Nolan, and Dan Lordan, in a number of interviews in the hours after that evening, William Brennan said: “I have been tortured all my life — hot water poured on my legs, a dent in my head, damaged eye socket from Jerry [his brother]. Thirty-one years of torture. All I want in my life is peace.

“[That evening] I could hear someone charge at me from behind in a balaclava and overalls. I got a blow to the front of my head, I put up my arm. Jerry ran over and punched me repeatedly in the head.

“I completely forgot I had a knife in my pocket. It was by chance I remembered I had the knife in my pocket. I just pulled it out of my pocket when being attacked by the person in the balaclava and Jerry… I waved it once, twice. When the balaclava was removed it was John. They both ran out the gate. 

"My father tried to offer them assistance. None of us had phones. I wanted to phone the guards. I wanted to phone for help. I was afraid my brothers would try to kill me again.

“If I did not have the knife, I would be dead now. The knife opens out like a hinge. It must have just opened itself at the time the attack was occurring,” the defendant, William Brennan, said.

He said he picked it up off the ground on the property on August 5 and put it in his pocket, and he happened to put on those same jeans on August 17, forgetting the knife was there.

For the prosecution, Ms Kelly said to the jury: “At the beginning of this trial it might have seemed complex. It is not complex. It comes down to one central issue. Was it self-defence? Or was it an act of anger and violence? Did he intend to stab or was he reckless? 

"While there is much in dispute, there is one thing not in dispute — the accused, William Brennan, stabbed both of his brothers, he accepts that himself. Jerry suffered a severed artery, John suffered a punctured lung.

“He asks you to believe he simply waved the knife and by accident caused extensive injuries, that it was an act of self-defence.” 

32-year-old William Brennan, of Longbridge, Ballyhalwick, Dunmanway, Co Cork, was on trial for five days at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, where he has now been found not guilty on all charges — assault causing serious harm to John Brennan and Jeremiah Brennan (junior), also known as Jerry, and producing a knife in the course of a dispute, all charges related to the date of August 17, 2024.