Man to be sentenced for fatal stabbing of ‘aggressive’ beggar

A Limerick man who was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter for stabbing an “aggressive” beggar to death will be sentenced next Monday at the Central Criminal Court.

Desmond Coyle (60) stabbed 58-year-old Romanian national Calo Carpaci at the deceased's home on May 24th, 2017.

Mr Carpaci died of a single stab wound to the heart.

Coyle told those who restrained him afterwards that he hoped his victim was dead and that he had deserved it. He later told gardaí that if Mr Carpaci had ‘stopped f***ing annoying me, it wouldn’t have happened’.

He went on trial last December and was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Mark Nicholas SC, for Coyle, told Mr Justice Michael White the jury's verdict indicated his client did not intend to kill Mr Carpaci but that by going to the deceased's home armed with a knife, he was guilty of an unlawful and negligent act.

Outlining the facts of the case, Inspector Arthur Ryan told the court t the deceased was an “aggressive” beggar and there had been interactions between him and Coyle in the lead up to the stabbing.

On the day in question, Coyle had been drinking in various pubs in Limerick before going home to pay his rent to his landlord.

While there, “for reasons best known to himself,” Coyle armed himself with a knife and went looking for Mr Carpaci, the inspector said.

‘Fondness for drink’

On failing to find him in his usual haunts, Coyle went to Mr Carpaci’s home where CCTV footage showed him entering through the open front door.

Within 13 seconds he reemerged, having inflicted the fatal wound.

Insp Ryan agreed with Mr Nicholas that Coyle had a “fondness for drink” and had previously been treated on a psychiatric unit having set his home on fire while he was inside.

Coyle, he said, is a single man who lived alone in a “Spartan” home. He is highly regarded by those who know him in Limerick, including his landlord and various pub owners who would give him drink on credit knowing that he would pay them every Wednesday when he received his disability benefit.

He has no previous convictions and had never come to the attention of gardaí prior to the fatal stabbing.

In submissions to the court, Mr Nicholas said his client offered to plead guilty to manslaughter before the trial but the DPP rejected the plea. He further noted that Coyle had always accepted responsibility for the killing and showed remorse when he told gardaí he wished he had not gone to Mr Carpaci’s home and added: “I’m not some cruel monster.”

Mr Justice White said he will consider the evidence and sentence Coyle next Monday.