Tallaght man not guilty of murder, but of manslaughter
A Dublin man accused of fatally stabbing a young father in a street brawl has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court.
Mark Warner (aged 22) of Donomore Avenue, Tallaght, had denied the murder of Jamie Keogh (aged 17) of Millbrook Lawns, Tallaght, at Donomore Avenue on July 30, 2004.
Shortly before returning a unanimous verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, the jury asked Mr Justice Henry Abbott if the accused ’s medical condition should have a bearing on their decision.
“It was relevant in this case. It is for you using your common sense now to decide on the matter. It would not be appropriate for me to comment any further,” Mr Justice Abbott said.
In the course of the trial the court heard that Mr Warner was a recovering heroin addict who had also become reliant upon methodone.
He had attempted suicide on two occasions, self-harmed and suffered from depression. On the night of the stabbing Mr Warner had been smoking cannabis and drinking when he was alerted to a disturbance at the Cunningham household across the street.
Mr Keogh was visiting his girlfriend, Louise Cunningham, but had got involved in a disagreement with her father and subsequently knocked him out.
Mr Warner intervened and began to fight with Mr Keogh. The accused was also charged with violent disturbance of the peace for the fistfight that ensued.
The jury found him not guilty of this lesser charge. When gardaí arrived the men dispersed, but Mr Keogh later returned to the accused’s house shouting and asking for a “straightener”.
Kevin Warner, the accused’s brother, accepted the challenge. Sherie Mahoney, who witnessed the events, described a “tense atmosphere” on Donomore Avenue as the two men fought violently in the street.
“The two of them were kicking the head off each other. Then Jamie got the better of Kevin and Kevin didn’t want to fight anymore,” Ms Mahoney said.
At this point, Ms Mahoney said, she saw Mr Mark Warner lunge at Mr Keogh with a “butcher’s knife”.
The resulting wound was 10 centimetres deep. It severed the lower part of Mr Keogh’s liver and punctured his portal vein.
The State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, told the court that Mr Keogh would have suffered considerable blood loss and been incapacitated within minutes.
Stephen Donnelly had also been watching the events, and went to Mr Keogh’s aid when he collapsed.
“He started kicking his legs and said he couldn’t breathe. He really started getting agitated. He started kicking and flailing his legs.
"I put my knee on his legs to stop him doing any more damage to himself,” Mr Donnelly said. In his closing statement, defence counsel Mr Brendan Grehan SC told the jury that while Mr Warner did not deny stabbing Mr Keogh, he did so because he felt under threat.
"There is ample evidence to suggest that he [Mark Warner] was provoked or was acting in defence of his brother or himself," he said.
Prosecuting counsel Mr Justin Dylan SC said in his closing statement that Mr Kevin Warner did not need to be defended and that he walked uninjured into the family home.
"What you have is Jamie Keogh, who is unarmed, facing someone who is heavily armed because he has a big knife with him.
"Mark Warner couldn't possibly have thought that he was under any threat," Mr Dylan said. On the eighth day of the trial the jury of six men and six women took two hours and nine minutes to reach their verdict of guilty of manslaughter.
Mr Justice Abbott remanded Mr Warner in custody to appear before him again on January 17, when a date will be fixed for sentencing.
