The parents of an 18-year-old man, who was stabbed to death at a house party, told a court they were "shocked" and "disgusted" that their son's killer was not convicted of murder.
Mr John Cully and his wife Gretta spoke in court after a jury found Keith McMahon not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of their son, Mr Edward Cully.
McMahon of Shanabooly Road, Ballynanty, Limerick, had denied murdering Mr Cully at Merval Crescent, Clareview, Limerick, on February 9th, 2003.
Following nearly seven hours of deliberations at the Central Criminal Court in Limerick the jury of seven men and five women returned a majority verdict of 10 to 2.
During the five-day trial, evidence was heard that Mr Cully had suffered a fatal stab wound to the chest at a house party in Limerick.
He had earlier been drinking with the accused at a city-centre nightclub and later they went to the party with friends.
Dr Margaret Bolster gave evidence that there were traces of the recreational drug, MDMA, present in the dead man's blood stream.
Two witnesses also gave evidence identifying McMahon as the person who stabbed Mr Cully three times with a kitchen knife in Merval Crescent.
During the trial the jury was shown a taped interview with gardaí in which the accused said he had merely intended to "prick" Mr Cully with the knife.
Following yesterday's majority verdict, the dead man's parents spoke in court of their difficulties in coming to terms with the verdict.
Mr John Cully said his family would never get over Edward's death and he added that he could not wish their sense of grief and shock on any other family.