David Mahon appeals length of sentence for killing partner’s son

A Dublin man is set to appeal the severity of his seven-year sentence for killing his partner's son.

In May, David Mahon (45) was found guilty of killing Dean Fitzpatrick (23), the older brother of missing teenager Amy, on May 26th, 2013.

Dean Fitzpatrick received a stab wound to the abdomen outside the apartment which his mother, Audrey Fitzpatrick, shared with David Mahon at Burnell Square on the Malahide Road.

The two-week trial heard that Mahon had been in a relationship with Audrey Fitzpatrick for 12 years by the time of the incident.

The State had argued that Mahon was drunk, angry and agitated when he thrust a knife into Mr Fitzpatrick with deadly intent.

Mahon claimed the death was an accident or possibly suicide, as Mr Fitzpatrick had “walked into the knife” while they had been arguing.

Mahon was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in May 2016.

He had pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan sentenced him to seven-years' imprisonment on June 13th, 2016.

Legal aid

Mahon was granted legal aid in the Court of Appeal on Friday to bring an appeal against the severity of his sentence.

During case management procedures in the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice George Birmingham ruled on Mahon's legal aid application, which was uncontested.

Mahon, who was not in court for the procedural matter, had been on legal aid at trial.

Mahon and Audrey Fitzpatrick had moved to Spain’s Costa del Sol with her children, Dean and Amy, in 2004.

Mr Mahon had worked as an estate agent. He told gardaí­that the couple were millionaires, with eight or nine houses and bars, but that they had spent it all looking for Amy.

The teenager went missing on New Year’s night in 2008 as she walked home from a friend’s house along an unlit dirt track.

Despite extensive searches, she has never been found.

Dean Fitzpatrick was 17 when his sister vanished. He moved home to Dublin soon after turning 18 and lived with his father, Christopher Fitzpatrick.

He met his partner, Sarah O'Rourke, in 2010. They had a son together and lived in Lusk in the north of the county.