A 38-year-old father of two, found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
Before sentencing, the court heard from a sister of the deceased man, who said her family had suffered a "loss that will never ever heal". Gladys Smith said the accused man "never expressed remorse. He took a life for no reason at all."
Last April, a jury deliberated for eight hours and 17 minutes before reaching a majority manslaughter verdict of 10 to two.
James (Séamus) Morgan, Lower Mount Pleasant Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin, was found guilty of the manslaughter of James Hand (29), Mountjoy Square, at a public house on Dorset Street Upper.
He was stabbed on August 22nd, 2002, and died two weeks later in hospital.
It was alleged that after Morgan told the young woman serving in The Meeting Pint pub - a niece of the deceased - that he was barred he had been asked to leave.
However, he returned to the pub on at least three occasions in an agitated state. After Mr Hand "had words" with the accused man, an altercation broke out and Mr Hand was stabbed.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said he "had to take into account the Court of Criminal Appeal's judgments criticising my focus on victim-impact statements". However, the trial judge said it was "significant" that the accused man was carrying a knife.
Mr Justice Carney said the accused had suffered significant brain damage and "one feels sorry for that. But brain damage or not, he went around carrying a knife and that led to the death of Mr Hand."
Before delivering sentence, Judge Carney read from a recent Court of Criminal Appeal judgment by Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman in the case of DPP v Stephen Kelly in which an eight-year sentence was imposed for a fatal stabbing.
Judge Carney then imposed a sentence of eight years on Morgan to date from yesterday, taking into account the four months already served. Mr Justice Carney refused leave to appeal by defence barrister George Birmingham SC.
After the sentence was delivered, Det Garda David O'Brien told the court that Morgan had seven previous convictions, including for burglary, disorderly conduct, criminal damage and drunk and disorderly. He was originally from a large family in Athy, Co Kildare.
During the trial, consultant psychiatrist Dr John Sheehan told the court that Morgan had been a patient for a number of years following a road traffic accident in July 1999 in which he sustained "severe head injuries".
Under cross-examination by prosecuting counsel Patrick McCarthy SC, the psychiatrist said that Morgan was on four different types of medication around the time of the fatal incident.
This included sleeping tablets, anti-depressant, anti-psychotic, anti-convulsant medication.
Before sentencing, Ms Smith told the court she was speaking on behalf of her mother, her five brothers, eight sisters and 86 members of Mr Hand's immediate family.
"We used to call him the 'bridge' as he bridged the gap between his nieces and nephews" who confided in him, she said. "We could always rely on him to look after the kids. His giving was endless."