Jury finds student guilty of manslaughter
A Limerick student has been found guilty at the Central Criminal Court of killing a 59-year-old man at the man's home two years ago.
The jury of six men and six women took just over four hours to find Joseph 'Jody' Buston, 21, of Towerfield, Croom, Co Limerick, guilty of the manslaughter of Mr O'Donovan at St Senan's Terrace in the village in the early hours of November 4, 2006 with a majority of 10 to 2.
During the trial, the jury heard that Buston, a fifth-year student at Coláiste Ciaran, Croom, had spent the day working with his father. That evening he arranged to meet some friends in a local pub. He told gardaí he drank several pints of Heineken there.
At around 10.30pm he went home to borrow more money from his parents before going out again to go to a local nightclub with his friends.
The same night Mr O'Donovan met his brother for a couple of drinks and to discuss their mother's anniversary mass, due to be held that weekend. They left the pub at around 1.30am and Vincent O'Donovan watched his brother walking off towards his home.
Buston, meanwhile had argued with his girlfriend after kissing another girl and taking her phone number at the nightclub. When a friend dropped him back to Croom after the nightclub closed at around 4am, he decided to visit his girlfriend to apologise.
Mr David Begley, her brother, told the court in his evidence that he was waiting up for his sister to come home when he heard a noise.
He went outside to find Buston climbing on the roof of the house and persuaded him to get down before he hurt himself.
Buston later told gardaí that he had been throwing stones at his girlfriend's window with the intention of getting in to see her.
The jury was also shown CCTV footage of outside the Spar shop in the village which showed Buston moving newspapers away from the shop and kicking a door.
At some stage he headed home. He initially told gardaí that he heard crying inside the house on St Senan's Terrace and went to investigate, but later said he did not know why he entered the house.
During the trial, the jury heard that his palm print had been found on the outside frame of the open bedroom window.
Mr O'Donovan woke up and left his bed to confront him. There was a struggle with Mr O'Donovan grabbing Buston by the shoulder and the arm.
Buston told gardaí he grabbed a knife from the kitchen draining board which was in easy reach. He said he just wanted to get away. Then he stabbed Mr O'Donovan once through the heart.
The Deputy Chief State Pathologist, Dr Michael Curtis, told the jury that the knife wound went into the chest to a depth of 17cms. It fractured a rib going in and sliced through the left lung and the heart.
Blood stains on his body showed that he had remained upright for some time after the stabbing. A trail of blood drops tracked a path from the back door round to the front of the house.
His body was discovered on the pavement two doors away from his house the next morning by a neighbour and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Justice Paul Carney thanked the jury for their careful deliberation and excused them from further jury service for life.
He remanded Buston on continuing bail. Mr Brendan Nix SC, defending, said that Buston represented no flight risk having refused to take up his bail when he was first charged.
Mr Justice Carney ordered victim impact statements to be prepared before sentencing in April.
