A MAN HAS been found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of his young neighbour outside a pub in Glenamaddy, Co Galway, last December, following a six-day trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Galway.
The jury of seven men and five women took more than 3½ hours yesterday to reach their 10 to two majority verdict. It found Patrick Doherty (46), Clooncon West, Glenamaddy, not guilty of the murder of Frank Fahy (20), O’Keeffe Park, Glenamaddy, in the town early on Monday, December 15th, but guilty of his manslaughter. Doherty, a native of Glasgow, who spent most of his childhood living in Belmullet and who had been living in Glenamaddy for the last 10 years, had denied murdering Mr Fahy but had pleaded guilty at the outset of the trial to his manslaughter.
Mr Fahy’s family wept openly in the packed courtroom at Galway courthouse yesterday afternoon when the verdict was read out and they watched in silence as Doherty was led away by prison officers.
John Hogan, defending, asked for sentencing to be adjourned to a later date for the preparation of a probation report. Mr Justice Paul Carney agreed to adjourn sentencing to Dublin on November 2nd next and he remanded Doherty in custody.
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy gave evidence that Mr Fahy died from a single five-inch stab wound under his right shoulder blade, which sliced through his right lung, severing the pulmonary artery and airways and causing the lung to collapse. She said he had suffered a “catastrophic” loss of blood.
The trial had heard evidence that Doherty had been drinking heavily on the Saturday and Sunday before the stabbing in various pubs in Glenamaddy.
He had ended up in Harte’s bar in the Square on the Sunday night where it was alleged he had been taunted by Gerard Costello, a friend of the victim.
Mr Costello denied in cross-examination that he had made lewd comments to Doherty about his wife and daughter that night to deliberately annoy him. There had been “history” between both men and Doherty had claimed Mr Costello had broken his collarbone a year earlier, even though he had not made a complaint to gardaí.
Doherty later admitted to gardaí that he left the pub near closing time, drove home, got a kitchen knife and returned to the pub with the intention of getting Mr Costello. He told gardaí he was sorry for what happened to Frank Fahy but he was not sorry for Mr Costello, who had sustained four superficial stab wounds that night. He told them he was fed up of always being picked on and he just “snapped” that night.
Witnesses saw Doherty go over to Mr Costello and Mr Fahy as they stood outside the pub waiting for a lift home. They turned around to face Doherty and Mr Fahy went to push him away.
Doherty then swung the knife over Mr Fahy’s head and stabbed him into the back, just below the right shoulder. Mr Fahy pushed him away and ran to his father’s waiting hackney bus.
Other witnesses saw Doherty then stab Mr Costello four times, before he too ran on to the bus.
Bernard Madden SC, defending, said in the course of the trial that his client had been deliberately provoked that night and he accused Mr Costello of being the instigator of what had happened.
Mr Madden said Mr Costello had deliberately and consciously engaged in an act of provocation that night knowing that Doherty had a temper when he had drink taken. “He lit the tinder box to set that temper in motion. He did that deliberately and Doherty then went home and got the knife,” Mr Madden said.