WARREN GRAHAM broke down and cried while a victim impact statement was read out on behalf of the sister of Paul Keegan, the man he murdered in December 2007.
Deborah Cantwell said that when she got the phone call to say her eldest sibling was dead, she threw the phone across the room.
She didn’t sleep or eat properly for weeks afterwards.
She said she felt like her “insides are shaking” all the time, and that she had not been able to return to work since the death.
Ms Cantwell said she would never know the pain her brother had been in before he died, and she could not get him out of her head.
It was heartbreaking to see her parents suffering. Her father’s brain cancer came back after his son died, and he too passed away in April last year.
She said her brother had a 19- year-old son when he was killed.
“He’s like a lost soul now. He was very close to his Dad and I don’t think he’ll ever be the same,” she said. “I will never get over what happened.”
After the verdict was read out, the court heard that Graham had expressed sorrow and remorse to gardaí in interviews.
He had 13 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, road traffic and public order offences.
His parents were separated. His mother, four sisters and his girlfriend of five years were present throughout the trial.