TWO BROTHERS have been acquitted of murder but found guilty of the manslaughter of a man they attacked after they found him in bed with a teenage girl whom one of the accused had been dating.
Gerard O’Riordan (25) and Shane O’Riordan (19), Arbutus Grove, Killarney, Co Kerry, had both denied the murder of James Brazier (30), known as “English Jim”, in Pinewood Estate, Killarney, in the early hours of April 15th, 2007.
At the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, a jury of nine men and three women took two hours and 45 minutes yesterday to unanimously find both men not guilty of Mr Brazier’s murder but guilty of his manslaughter.
The jurors, who were on the verge of being sent home for the evening by Mr Justice Barry White when they returned with a decision at 5.30pm, also found Gerard O’Riordan guilty of a second charge of assault causing harm to Mr Brazier.
Following a brief discussion with lawyers for the prosecution and defence, Mr Justice White remanded both men in custody until today when he will decide whether to proceed with sentencing or whether to adjourn it to another date.
In his charge to the jurors, Mr Justice White told them they should consider each of the three charges separately and reminded them that they had to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt before convicting either man of the charge or charges against him.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence from statements that both accused had made to gardaí during interview after they gave themselves up at Killarney Garda station on April 19th, 2007, and were arrested for questioning about the attack.
Shane O’Riordan told gardaí how he had gone with his brother to the home of the girl he had been going out with for about eight months.
They had split up just days earlier and he found her in bed with Mr Brazier and flew into a rage.
“I turned on the light. I noticed there was another fellow on the bed in his boxer shorts and X was in her thong.
“I just flipped. I looked for the first thing I could find and saw a knife on a dressing table locker and I stabbed him in the back,” Shane O’Riordan told gardaí.
“I just freaked out, I panicked, I was in shock, I didn’t set out to kill him . . . I want to say I didn’t intend on killing him. I’m extremely sorry,” he said.
He also confirmed in the statement to gardaí that he cut his fingers with the knife during the incident.
Gerard O’Riordan told gardaí over the course of five interviews how he had gone over to the man in the bed and began hitting him around the head before his brother jumped up on the bed and began stabbing Mr Brazier in the back.