A Carlow man has been found guilty of manslaughter but not guilty of the murder of a teenage father-of-one at his trial at the Central Criminal Court today.
Following seven hours of deliberations, the jury found John Dillon (22) with an address at Granby Row, Carlow, guilty of the manslaughter of Warren Slater (17) at Granby Row, Carlow, on May 13th, 2001. Mr Dillon had denied the charge.
Mr Dillion admitted attacking Slater but claimed he had acted in self-defence and was provoked by Mr Slater, who had allegedly tried to rape his mother a few weeks prior to the fatal incident.
Mr Slater drowned on his own blood after being stabbed a number of times by Dillon in a row outside his home. When arrested by the gardaí, Dillon said he thought Mr Slater had a knife behind his back and that he was going to stab him or his mother.
Mr Justice Barry White discharged the jury from service for ten years and remanded Dillon in custody for sentencing on February 28th.