Court hears 'popular, well liked' 60-year-old was stabbed twice in the neck
A "popular, well liked" 60-year-old died after suffering two stab wounds to the neck in the sitting room of his home, a barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.
Paul Murray SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions opened the trial today of 32-year-old Keith Brady of Cartron Estate, Sligo. Mr Brady has pleaded not guilty to Martin 'Matt' Kivlehan's murder but guilty to manslaughter on August 2 or 3 at New Apartments, Holborn St, Sligo.
Mr Murray told the jury of eight men and four women that Mr Kivlehan lived by himself in the apartment where his body was found.
He was, Mr Murray said, a "popular, well-liked, inoffensive man that wouldn't be a harm to anybody."
He had "his own particular demons or vulnerabilities," Mr Murray said, a problem with his legs and problems with alcohol.
He had a circle of friends, one of whom discovered Mr Kivlehan's body in his apartment on the morning of the August bank holiday Monday in 2015.
Mr Kivlehan's body was lying on the floor in the sitting room. The apartment had been "ransacked".
The alarm was raised and gardaí began an investigation. Then Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis examined the body and found two stab wounds, one on either side of the neck.
He could not say which one was inflicted first, Mr Murray told the jury. The injury on the left penetrated to a depth of seven to eight centimetres and was at a 45 degree angle.
The one on the right was slightly deeper at nine centimetres and was also at a 45 degree angle.
Mr Murray explained that Dr Curtis found that the injury to the left of the neck was potentially life-threatening while the one to the right severed the internal and external carotid arteries and was "incompatible with life".
Dr Curtis also found that Mr Kivlehan was "grossly intoxicated" at the time of his death.
Mr Murray said: "You can keep in the back of your minds the capacity of Mr Kivlehan to defend himself in those circumstances against a man who is younger than him."
Mr Murray told the jury that when assessing an accused person's guilt they can presume that the accused intended the "natural and probable consequences of his actions".
He asked: "What are the natural and probable consequences of a stab wound to the neck? Not to the leg or the arm or some other part of the body. And you will immediately see the follow-up question. What are the natural and probable consequences of not one, but two stab wounds to the neck?"
As the garda investigation unfolded Mr Brady was arrested and charged with Mr Kivlehan's murder.
Mr Murray further explained that to be guilty of murder a person must have had an intention to kill or cause serious injury at the time of the offence.
Counsel said that the accused man's level of intoxication and ability to form an intention or make a decision will be among the matters to be considered by them.
The trial continues in front of the jury and Mr Justice Alex Owens.
