Crime & Law

Man jailed for life in London for murder of Irish neighbour

Darryn Madigan (38) jailed for stabbing John Martin (45) to death following drunken row

John Martin, originally from Donore, Co Meath, was stabbed to death by neighbour Darryn Madigan in northwest London on August 7th, 2016. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire

Tue Feb 7 2017 - 21:51

A man has been jailed for life in London for stabbing his Irish neighbour to death following a drunken row.

Darryn Madigan (38) claimed he accidentally plunged a kitchen knife into 45-year-old John Martin’s body as they fell into bushes in the early hours of August 7th last year.

An Old Bailey jury found him guilty of murder and he was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum term of 16 years.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC had said the defendant had attacked his neighbour in the front garden of his flat in Doreen Avenue, northwest London.

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He had armed himself with a 20cm-long kitchen knife and plunged the blade into Mr Martin’s rib cage and through the heart.

Mr Martin, who fell into a bush, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The bare-chested defendant was found covered in blood and smelling of alcohol outside the house.

Afterwards, he told police that he had waved the knife to “try and scare him off”.

“His head came into contact with mine. I think he butted me,” he said.

“I remember falling into the bushes. I was stunned by the impact of his head hitting me. I realised during the struggle that the knife had gone into him,” he said.

Admitted manslaughter

Madigan denied murder but admitted manslaughter and claimed he was scared of the victim, who had threatened to kill him.

Mr Martin, originally from Donore, Co Meath, had been out with his girlfriend and returned home drunk in a minicab at about 2.50am. He was allegedly heard shouting up at the defendant’s window in an abusive and threatening way.

Mr Glasgow told jurors: “Thus it is that you are likely to hear evidence about the behaviour of John Martin that some of you may find unpalatable – the fact he was drunk and abusive may do little to endear him to you.

“However, none of that provides the defendant with a defence to murder, nor could it, since the mere fact that someone is drunk and abusive could never justify killing that person in cold blood.”

Mr Glasgow said that the defendant claimed he had picked up the knife to protect himself as he was “scared” of the victim.

Also he would say he accidentally stabbed him when they fell to the ground.

But the prosecutor told jurors the explanation he stabbed him twice by accident in a fall was “far-fetched”. – (PA)

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