A MAN who chased after an armed supermarket robber and stabbed him has been sentenced to five years in prison.
David Wilson (22), Marigold Avenue, Darndale, was convicted yesterday at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin of the manslaughter of Paul Howe (22), Glenshane Crescent, Tallaght, in a car park at the rear of Supervalu supermarket on the Howth Road on October 8th, 2008.
Mr Justice George Birmingham said it was a desperately sad business, the effects of which would last forever.
He had a sense of the enormity of what was involved after listening to the impact statement read aloud to the court by Mr Howe’s sister Rachel McCabe.
He said the State could not take a life, nor could anyone else, adding that the law offered no encouragement to the “have-a-go” philosophy.
Mr Justice Birmingham said Wilson had not gone out to commit violent crime and it was the last thing on his mind, yet within a short time he had killed someone who was a stranger to him.
He said a very significant fact was that the weapon was not brought to the scene by Wilson, nor did Wilson leave the scene to arm himself. The knife was introduced to the scene by the raiders. He said this distinguished the case from other knife crime cases.
After his trial last October, a jury acquitted Wilson of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.
Brendan Grehan SC, defending, read out an apology from Wilson.
“I would like to apologise to Mr Howe’s family,” the statement said. “I know they must hate me.”
The trial lasted eight days in the Central Criminal Court, during which the jury was shown CCTV footage from Supervalu on the night of the killing which showed Mr Howe and another man threatening female cash attendants with knives before fleeing the store.
It was the prosecution’s case that Wilson stabbed Howe seven times as he attempted to make his getaway following the armed robbery.
Wilson and a group of men were seen standing outside the shop looking in as the robbery unfolded.
Wilson was recorded throwing a can at Howe as he ran out of the shop before pursuing him, followed by the security guard and others.
Deepak Daulat, the security guard working at Supervalu, gave evidence of chasing Howe. He told the court he caught up with Howe first, with Wilson following behind, and pulled him from a wall.
Mr Daulat said he wrestled Howe to the ground and hit him twice with the stick, which caused him to drop the knife.
The court heard the next time Mr Daulat saw the knife was when Wilson had it in his hand and was stabbing Mr Howe.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy told the court that Howe suffered seven stab wounds, three of which penetrated deeply, piercing both lungs and slicing a major blood vessel.
Howe also suffered blunt force trauma to his head and body, which was likely caused at the time of his death.
He had €850 in his pocket which he had stolen from the store minutes before the killing.