A man has been sentenced to 12 years for the fatal stabbing of an archaeologist who died after being stabbed 17 times at a house in Co Cavan.
Kevin Moran (30) was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in February of the manslaughter of Emmett Connolly (32) on September 28th, 2013.
Moran, a widowed father of three, had pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Connolly at Lodgeview, Cootehill.
After a six day trial, a jury found Moran, of Lodgeview, Cootehill, Co Cavan, but originally from Shankill in Dublin, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Today, Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Moran to 12 years imprisonment with the final two years suspended, on condition he enters into a bond of €1,000 to stay away from the family of the deceased.
Mr Justice Carney said due to the "gratuitous" nature of the killing and its effect on the family of the deceased, he would hand down 12 years imprisonment dating from December 7 2013, taking the accused's plea of guilty into consideration.
In a statement released by the Connolly family, they said they were “relieved” that this process was over.
“It’s been a long road to get here, today has given us some closure but we still have a long road ahead of us and an empty void
“Emmett was our son and brother. His death has been a huge loss to our family which can never be replaced.”
The Connolly family also wished to thank their family and friends, gardai in Bailieboro District, their legal team and victim support at the Central Criminal Court.
Last month, Emmett Connolly’s father Frank Connolly told the court in his victim impact statement how his family has gone from a “functioning family” to a “broken entity on a journey to hell”.
“How can any parent.....mother or father... stand here and try to put across the pain or loss of such a tragic event. This loss goes on as long as we live - our lifetime sentence,” Mr Connolly read.
Moran’s trial heard how Emmett Connolly from Rockcorry, Co Monaghan, had returned to Ireland after 18 months in Australia and had been socialising at Lodgeview in Cootehill, Co Cavan.
The jury of seven men and five women heard evidence that Moran told gardaí in an interview that he panicked and stabbed the deceased after a fight, but later told them he had stabbed Mr Connolly in a “rage”.
According to Moran’s statement at the time of being charged, a row had developed between him and Mr Connolly. Moran suggested Mr Connolly wanted drugs but no drugs were procured.
Counsel for the DPP, Paddy McCarthy SC said there was no previous history between the two men and they had not known each other.
The court heard Mr Connolly was single, had lived with his family and had graduated from NUI Galway.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis gave evidence at the trial, where he outlined to the court the extent of the 17 stab wounds inflicted on the decased.
When Dr Curtis arrived at the scene at 2.45pm on Sunday September 29th, there was no sign of life to be found from Mr Connolly who he observed sitting up against a freezer “which bore blood stains”.
Dr Curtis told the court a black-handled knife, seven inches long with a distortion to the tip, was found on the drain of the kitchen sink.
The postmortem conducted by Dr Curtis found that the majority of the wounds to Mr Connolly were to his left collar bone, his front left shoulder region, his left upper arm and left upper back.
The court previously heard from Mr McCarthy that there was no evidence to support that Moran was attacked in any way “as there was no bruising to his body whatsoever.”
Mr McCarthy had previously called Supt Fergus Traynor of Monaghan Garda station to the stand who said the accused had been born into a family of four children in the Shankill area of Dublin but moved to Cavan over 10 years ago.
Supt Traynor told the court Moran’s girlfriend was deceased prior to this event when she had attended a concert in the North and died from ecstasy on her way home in a car.
The court previously heard Moran had five previous convictions including a public order offence, two convictions of assault in 2008 and possession of a knife.