David Mahon trial: jury asks to see block from which knife taken

Dubliner pleaded not guilty to murdering stepson Dean Fitzpatrick (23) in 2013

The jury in the David Mahon murder trial has been given the knife block from which he said his stepson had taken the knife that ultimately caused his death.

It’s deliberating on whether Mr Mahon murdered father-of-one Dean Fitzpatrick on May 26th, 2013.

The deceased was the older brother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick and the accused has pleaded not guilty.

The 23-year-old received a stab wound to the abdomen outside the apartment that his mother, Audrey Fitzpatrick, shared with Mr Mahon at Burnell Square, Northern Cross in Dublin.

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The State has argued that the 45-year-old accused was drunk, angry and agitated when he stabbed his stepson with deadly intent.

Mr Mahon said the death was an accident or possible suicide.

Mr Mahon said they had been arguing because the deceased had taken a water bottle off his bicycle to annoy him.

He said that Mr Fitzpatrick had pulled a knife on him and that he had wrestled it from him and put it into his pocket.

He said he then took the knife out to show it to him and that Mr Fitzpatrick had walked onto it. The trial heard Mr Fitzpatrick ran downstairs, but collapsed outside and bled to death internally.

The six women and six men of the jury deliberated for more than two hours on Wednesday before being sent home for the night.

They returned to court on Thursday morning and asked the judge a number of questions before retiring to resume deliberations.

They asked for the knife block from Mr Mahon’s kitchen from which the accused said the deceased had pulled the knife.

They also asked for another knife found on Mr Mahon’s balcony.

They asked for the pathologist's report but Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan said they could not have it. She said she could instead read his evidence for them or read her summary of his evidence.

They again asked for all three possible verdicts to be explained: guilty, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, and not guilty.

The judge explained that for a murder verdict, they would have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Dean Fitzpatrick had been unlawfully killed by David Mahon, that Mr Mahon had intended to kill or seriously injure him, and that Mr Fitzpatrick’s death was not accidental.

The jurors then resumed deliberations and had spent four hours considering their verdict before breaking for lunch. They continued their deliberations this afternoon.