A 27-year-old Dublin man has been jailed for nine years for killing one of his friends during a drunken New Year's Eve fight.
Karl Breen, with an address at Nangor Crescent, Clondalkin, had pleaded not guilty to murdering his friend Martin McLaughlin on January 1st 2006 but was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury two weeks ago.
Breen had stabbed Mr McLaughlin three times, including one stab which pierced his heart during a row in the Jury's Croke Park Hotel. Mr McLaughlin died the following day.
In the Central Criminal Court this morning Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins said that although a lot of alcohol had been consumed and no one began the celebrations with an intention of committing a crime, Breen was "not of blameless character."
A young life is gone and nothing can bring it back. And the devastation caused, and upset and distress caused is palpable, and documented clearly," he said.
He took into account the fact that Breen was 27 and the father of three young children.
He also noted he had 18 previous convictions, most of which he didn't feel necessary to take into account because they were for road traffic offences and public disorder.
However, he took into account one further conviction against Breen for cruelty to animals, which related to a dogfight involving pit bull terriers.
He also said that while Breen did eventually hand himself into Gardai on January 3rd, Breen had left the hotel immediately after the killing and booked himself into different hotels for the following two nights.
In all, he said that the least sentence he could impose was one of nine years. He backdated sentence to October 13th this year and other time spent in custody.