A 47-year-old Offaly man who fatally stabbed his teenage son during a drunken row was handed down a seven year prison sentence for manslaughter at the Central Criminal court today.
Mr Thomas Groome was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of his son Christopher by a jury at the Central Criminal court on March 5th. Christopher (19) died from a fatal stab wound to the chest during a "tussle" in a caravan at Churchview Heights, Edenderry, Co Offaly on November 15th, 1999.
Addressing Groome, Mr Justice Barry White said "your son lost his life in circumstances where you chose to pick up a kitchen knife in the course of a struggle or tussle which appears to have developed out of a relatively trivial argument between you".
Mr Justice White had some strong words on what he called the "knife culture" in Irish society: " It is a recognised fact that all too often the murder trials that appear in the Central Criminal court arise out of a fatal stabbing" he said.
"I am firmly of the view that the message must go out loud and clear that the courts will not tolerate the use of knives and that the courts have respect for human lives and dignity even if others do not have that respect for human life" he said.
The judge added that "deterrent sentences" should be handed down by the courts "until such a time as people start to have proper regard for the value of human life and until such a time when the knife culture that is in our society ceases".
Mr Justice White said he took Mr Groome's "tough upbringing" into account when passing sentence.