Eight years for Limerick man who stabbed 'annoying' Romanian beggar
A Limerick man found guilty of stabbing to death an "annoying" Romanian national who begged from him has been jailed for eight years.
This morning Mr Justice Michael White said the actions of Desmond Coyle (aged 60) over 13 seconds at the deceased's home on Roche's Row in Limerick almost two years ago, resulted in 58-year-old Calo Carpaci "entirely needlessly" losing his life.
He also said the killing of Mr Carpaci was "at the upper end of the scale" in terms of manslaughter.
Coyle went on trial last December and was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Summarising the facts of the case this morning, Judge White explained that on the morning of May 24, 2017, Coyle left his home on Davis Street in Limerick and collected his disability benefit before going to two pubs where he drank a "substantial" amount. He also bought some food before returning home.
He then left his home again and "for some reason best known to himself" he left "armed with a knife" and in search of Mr Carpaci.
When Coyle couldn't find Mr Carpaci in the areas the Romanian man used to frequent, Coyle went to Mr Carpaci's home, entered the property and inflicted one stab wound to Mr Carpaci's heart.
Mr Justice White noted that Coyle was caught on CCTV entering the Mr Carpaci's home and re-emerging 13 seconds later.
The court previously heard Coyle told those who restrained him after the stabbing that he hoped his victim was dead and that he had deserved it.
He later told gardaí if Mr Carpaci had "stopped f***ing annoying me, it wouldn’t have happened".
This morning Mr Justice White said the aggravating circumstances are "clear".
He said Coyle, "for reasons the court finds hard to explain" was "discommoded at the very most" by Mr Carpaci who had begged from him "on occasions" and that this provoked Coyle to seek out Mr Carpaci at lunchtime on May 24, 2017.
Mr Justice White said: "It was clear from the [pathologist's] evidence that he [Mr Carpaci] was still a very healthy man and still had a good bit of life ahead of him."
Mr Justice White took a number of mitigating circumstances into consideration before passing sentence.
These included a previous plea by Coyle of guilty to manslaughter, Coyle's background, which the judge noted had "a degree of tragedy to it", and the fact Coyle has no previous convictions.
At a sentence hearing last week, Mark Nicholas SC, for Coyle, said Coyle had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter before the trial but the DPP rejected the plea.
Mr Nicholas also noted that Coyle had always accepted responsibility for the killing and showed remorse when he told gardai that he wished he had not gone to Mr Carpaci's home and added: "I'm not some cruel monster."
This morning, Mr Justice White said it was difficult to understand how a man could reach the age of 60, with no previous convictions, and commit the crime he did. He also noted that Coyle is generally a "civil" man in his demeanour with people.
But, he said, he had to sentence Coyle for a serious crime which was at the upper end of the manslaughter scale and sentenced him to eight years in prison from the date he was remanded in custody which was December 12, 2018.
