A Dublin man was convicted in the Central Criminal Court yesterday of the manslaughter of another man at a football pitch in Tallaght. Michael Doyle (22), of Tonduff Close, Greenpark, Greenhills, Tallaght, had denied the murder of Mr Mark O'Keefe (20) on May 30th, 1997.
A jury of seven men and five women took 2 1/2 hours to reach its unanimous verdict of manslaughter. Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said he would sentence Doyle on November 5th.
During the 10-day trial, the jury heard that following a fracas in which a gang of youths attacked Doyle and another man with metal bars and a Stanley knife, the accused fled the scene and returned with long kitchen knives hidden in his clothing.
Doyle told the court he returned with knives to scare the gang away from his friend.
Prosecution counsel, Mr Eamonn Leahy SC, told the jury that according to a statement by the accused, the gang spotted Doyle returning to the field and yelled, "Grab him, grab him." Doyle pulled out the knives and brandished them so that a man approaching him, Mr Mark O'Keeffe, could see them. Mr O'Keefe approached Doyle with his empty hands outstretched while a woman urged Doyle to run, Mr Leahy said. Doyle stabbed Mr O'Keefe a number of times, piercing the right ventricle of his heart.
Gardai later recovered a nailbar, two metal bars, a kitchen knife, a blade and a Stanley knife from the scene.
Mr Leahy said Doyle told gardai he saw Mr O'Keeffe as a threat. "He just kept coming and then I stabbed him," Doyle allegedly told gardai.
The court heard that Doyle took a train to Belfast, a ferry to Glasgow and a train to London, where a relative lived. He later returned voluntarily to the State and co-operated fully with gardai.
Doyle was remanded in custody until sentencing.