A CO Wicklow man was found guilty yesterday of murdering his father, who was stabbed nine times in their home.
At the Central Criminal Court Mr Justice Budd said the mandatory sentence for murder was life imprisonment. But he adjourned sentence on electrician Thomas Heaney (28) until December 10th and ordered victim impact reports on the effect of the murder of Peter Heaney (59) on his family and a medical report on Thomas Heaney.
He said it would help if Heaney could be detained in a prison near members of his family who obviously still cared for him.
The jury of six men and six women took more than three hours to reach their unanimous verdict in the eight day trial.
They found Heaney guilty of murdering of his father at Marian Villas, Arklow, Co Wicklow, on October 9th 1994. Relatives wept as the verdict was delivered. Heaney sat impassively throughout the hearing.
The trial heard that Peter Heaney died from shock and haemorrhage compounded by an accumulation of blood in the sac around the heart so that it could not function. This was due to a stab wound in his chest.
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, said the dead man had nine stab wounds - seven to his chest and two to his abdomen. One of the wounds had passed through Heaney's heart and this, together with another wound to the heart, were fatal injuries.
The prosecution contended that Heaney stabbed his father to death as he was sleeping in a chair after a night's drinking.
The trial heard that when gardai called to the home in the early hours of October 9th 1994, there was broken glass strewn over the lawn and front porch and loud music was being played. Thomas Heaney was standing in the hall holding a telephone, with blood on his face and hands. Peter Heaney was slumped in a chair in the sitting room. He was unconscious and breathing heavily. There was a bloodstained knife on a coffee table nearby.
Thomas Heaney was handcuffed and laid face down in the hallway. He kept saying: "Oh God", and "This is a fucking mess.
In his evidence, Heaney said he stabbed his father during a violent struggle and said he was "afraid for his life". He said he was afraid his father was reaching for a knife and was going to stab him.
Heaney said his father had been involved in a relationship with another woman while his mother was dying of cancer and he had continued that relationship after his mother died in May 1991 and up to the time of the stabbing. He and his father had had rows over this, as Heaney had not approved of the relationship.
Heaney said on the night of October 8th/9th 1994 he went downstairs to have it out with his father over the relationship. He said he stabbed his father twice in the stomach after his father said to him that he was "a mad fucking bastard" like his late mother.
He said he thought his father was dead, went to his bedroom where he drank more gin, and then returned to the sitting room where his father was. He said he checked for a pulse and his father grabbed him. A violent struggle ensued during which he stabbed his father "more than once".
Heaney said he loved his father and did not intend to kill him or cause him serious injury.