A 47-year-old Offaly man who fatally stabbed his son during a drunken row was given a seven-year prison sentence for manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday.
Thomas Groome was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of the manslaughter of his son, Christopher, by a jury on March 5th. Christopher Groome (19) died from a fatal stab wound to the chest during a "tussle" in a caravan at Churchview Heights, Edenderry, Co Offaly, on November 15th, 1999.
Mr Justice White said: "It is a recognised fact that all too often the murder trials that appear in the Central Criminal Court arise out of a fatal stabbing."
He added that deterrent sentences should be handed down by the courts "until such a time as people start to have proper regard for the value of human life and until such a time when the knife culture that is in our society ceases". Mr Justice White suspended the final year of the sentence on condition that Groome agree to a bond of €100 to be of good behaviour for three years.
The jury heard during the trial that an underlying tension between father and son erupted when Christopher got into bed fully dressed after a family night out. An argument ensued during which Groome stabbed his son.
"I picked up the knife on the draining board. In the struggle Christy and I fell backwards towards the door. It was after him falling straight on top of me that I stabbed him," Groome told gardaí.