Waterford man guilty of brother's manslaughter
A Waterford city man has been found guilty at the Central Criminal Court of the manslaughter of his younger brother over two years ago, hours after they rang in the new year together.
Thirty-four-year-old Keith Doyle of Priory Lawn, Ballybeg, Waterford, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Gary Doyle (aged 28), who had taken one of the accused’s eyes out four years earlier.
The single father-of-one died from stab wounds at Waterford Hospital on new year’s morning, 2003, after fighting with the accused near their homes.
During the six-day trial, the court heard that both brothers began drinking beer with friends in a local pub around teatime that New Year’s Eve. They each drank about seven or eight pints before moving onto pints of vodka mix.
A number of witnesses said there had been a good atmosphere in the pub that night and that the brothers had been close. One friend, Mary Boland, said: "Gary and Keith had their arms around each other when I left".
The group left the pub at around 2am and began to walk home to Ballybeg. An argument developed between the Doyle brothers and insults were thrown. Keith Doyle went into his house with two friends.
Gary Doyle banged on his brother’s door, asking him to come out so he could knock out his other eye. "He was calling me a one-eyed bastard, that this fella and that fella was riding my girlfriend," Mr Doyle told gardaí later that day.
The accused came out with a baseball bat and a fight took place. The deceased left and Keith Doyle returned to his house, emerging again moments later. He got into his car, took off at speed and followed his brother down Ballybeg Drive.
When he caught up with his brother, they fought again and Gary Doyle was stabbed a number of times. One of the wounds was to the jugular and fatal. The accused agreed he was the only one fighting with his brother.
Gary Doyle bled profusely and was taken to hospital, where he died of blood-loss. Keith Doyle returned to his car, drove home and changed his clothes. The deceased’s blood was found on these clothes during DNA testing.
Later that morning, when Mr Doyle’s girlfriend told him of his younger sibling’s death, he shouted: "What am I after doing?" When gardaí came to his home, he told them: "I stabbed him in the neck with something and went home."
He said he was always fighting with his brother and agreed it had a lot to do with Gary "glassing" him in the eye. However, he said he would not call it revenge. "I wouldn’t hurt my brother. I got into a fit of blind rage."
Keith Doyle’s barrister said he had never seen a case with stronger evidence of provocation. His client was being taunted with blinding by the very person who had taken out one of his eyes. "Who wouldn’t have snapped?" he asked.
The jury of seven women and five men took this view, and after four hours of deliberation reached a majority verdict of 10 to two that Mr Doyle was not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.
The court then heard that the accused, who has been unemployed since before his brother’s death, had a string of previous convictions and had served time in prison. His crimes included drugs and firearms offences, larceny, burglary and malicious damage.
Lucy Doyle, mother of both the accused and the deceased, said they were friends as well as brothers. She said the whole family was close and that Gary’s death had brought them closer together.
She wept in the witness box as she told how her son’s death had devastated the whole family. "Gary is in heaven and Keith is in hell," she said. "He doesn’t have a life anymore. His life is sitting at his brother’s grave."
Her third son, Mark, told the court that they would not be able to cope with another loss. "It’s ruining all our lives, including Keith’s. He’s doing a life sentence as it is," he said.
Mark Doyle said that the only time his brother goes outside the door now is to visit Gary’s grave.
"He goes out every night and spends hours with Gary at the grave. Sometimes he goes over two or three times a night," he added.
The court heard that Keith Doyle has not touched alcohol since the killing, is being treated for depression, and cannot work.
Mr Justice Paul Carney thanked the jury for its service and remanded the accused on continuing bail for sentencing on July 18 next.
