Dublin man jailed for stabbing friend in New Year's Eve row
A 27-year-old Dublin man has been jailed for nine years for fatally stabbing one of his friends during a drunken New Year’s Eve fight.
Karl Breen, of Nangor Crescent, Clondalkin, had pleaded not guilty to murdering his friend Martin McLaughlin on January 1, 2006 but was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury two weeks ago.
Breen had stabbed Mr McLaughlin three times, including one stab which pierced his heart during a row in the Jury’s Croke Park Hotel, following a night of New Year celebrations.
In the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins accepted the group of friends had consumed a large amount of alcohol.
He also accepted that when they checked in, no one had intended any crimes to happen and noted that CCTV cameras captured footage of Breen hugging his friend in the hotel hours before he killed him.
He also took into account that Breen was the father of three young children.
He noted Breen had 18 previous convictions, most of which he did not feel necessary to take into account because they were for road traffic offences and public disorder.
However, he did take into account one further conviction against Breen for cruelty to animals which related to a dog fight including pit bull terriers.
He also said that while Breen did eventually hand himself into gardaí on January 3rd, Breen had left the hotel immediately after the killing and booked himself into different hotels for the following two nights.
He said that Breen was "not a blameless character" and that the least sentence he could impose was one of nine years.
He backdated sentence to October 13 this year and said the sentence was to exclude any other time Breen had spent in custody.
Referring to the impact the killing has had on Mr Mc Laughlin’s family, the Judge said: "A young life is gone and nothing can bring it back. And the devastation caused and upset and distress caused is palpable and documented clearly."
Prosecution counsel Mr Brendan Grehan SC read out the family’s victim impact statement on their behalf.
In it, the family described how Martin had only celebrated his 21st birthday weeks before the killing and that he had just received loan approval to buy a house in Kildare.
They said he had wanted to go into the digging business like his father.
His room remains locked and hasn’t been opened since and the family say they wouldn’t be able to go on if it weren’t for the presence of Martin’s nephew in the family home
"At Christmas time, they set an extra place for Marty and put out a glass of wine for him,2 Mr Grehan said.
