A jury at the Central Criminal Court has found a man not guilty of the fatal stabbing of another man outside an off-licence in Ballyfermot, Dublin.
The jury of nine men and three women took just under five hours to find Gary Gleeson (23) of Granard, Co Longford, not guilty of the murder of 19-year-old Gavin Weldon outside Molloy's Off-Licence on July 5th, 2005. Both families cried as the verdict was read out.
The jury heard that Mr Gleeson's fiancee was working in Cherry Orchard Hospital. Mr Gleeson and his brother had driven up to bring her some lunch and, as it was a fine evening, decided to bring the two pit bulls the couple owned on a walk.
The court heard Weldon had spent the day drinking. He had been moved on by gardaí who found him drinking in the grounds of a local school and at some point was alleged to have thrown a rock through a neighbour's window. He met up with some friends beside the off-licence. One of them, Michael Grendon, told the court Weldon was drinking vodka mixed with an energy drink.
The Gleeson brothers were waiting to cross the road. The jury was shown CCTV footage of Weldon running towards them with a bottle raised over his head. He caught up with Mr Gleeson as he tried to run away, kicking off one of Mr Gleeson's trainers in the process. He then brought the vodka bottle down on Mr Gleeson's head.
Mr Gleeson let go of the dog. As they struggled a knife fell to the ground from Weldon's pocket. Both men reached for the knife but Mr Gleeson managed to grab it. Weldon continued coming with the bottle raised. Mr Gleeson told the court he didn't realise he had stabbed Weldon until he noticed the blood on the blade.