A man who had an "evil smile" on his face when he plunged a knife into his friend's chest has been sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for manslaughter.
Richard Mullen (19), Claremont Estate, Navan, Co Meath, was 17 when he attacked his friend Simon Sharkey at a party in the town in the early hours of May 28th, 2005.
He was on bail at the time of the incident.
Mr Sharkey was 18 and died six days after the attack, just hours after being discharged from hospital.
At Trim Circuit Criminal Court yesterday Mullen was sentenced after he had pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter at an earlier sitting.
Judge Michael O'Shea heard that the defendant had hit a girl at the party and Mr Sharkey had words with him and a row developed.
Det Garda Liam McCarville said that one witness saw Mullen go and get a knife from the kitchen. He plunged the knife into his victim's chest.
"He had an evil smile on his face. He showed no remorse afterwards," the witness said in a statement to gardaí.
Mr Sharkey was taken to Our Lady's hospital, Navan, and then was transferred to the Mater hospital in Dublin. He was discharged on June 2nd but within hours returned to the Navan hospital complaining of pains.
In spite of medical advice to stay, he returned home, where he died two hours later of a heart attack, caused by the injury inflicted with the knife.
In a statement read to the court, the victim's mother, Anne Sharkey, said that all their lives had been destroyed by the death of her son. They all felt terrible anger, frustration and loneliness, she said. "Our lives are filled with what-ifs."
Det Garda McCarville said that the accused man had 13 previous convictions. He was on bail at the time of the incident in relation to an assault charge and was now serving a prison term. Derek Kenneally SC, for the defendant, said it was not a premeditated attack.
Mullen and the victim had been drinking for much of the day and his client offered his sincere sympathies to the victim's family.
He also pointed out to Judge O'Shea that the victim had left the hospital against the medical advice given to him.
The judge pointed out that the probation report said there was a "high risk" that Mullen would reoffend. He sentenced him to nine years' imprisonment to run from January of next year, when Mullen is due to finish his current prison sentence.