There were violent scenes at the end of a murder trial at Central Criminal Court in Limerick last night when a 23 year-old career criminal was jailed for life.
Two men were arrested following a mass brawl which broke out in the hallway of the Limerick County Courthouse building.
The fracas followed a guilty verdict in the trial of Gary Kirby at the Central Criminal Court currently sitting in Limerick.
Mr Kirby of 89 Hyde Road, Limerick, had denied the murder of Trevor McNamara at 390 O'Malley Park, Southill, on September 13th, 2002.
A jury of nine men and three women returned a unanimous guilty verdict last night after three and a half hours of deliberations.
During the trial, evidence was heard that the victim's skull had been smashed in with a pick-axe handle before he was stabbed ten times in the neck and body.
Mr Kirby had claimed that he was only trying to defend himself and that he feared he was going to be stabbed by the victim.
Detective Sergeant Tom O'Connor told the court last night that Gary Kirby had 36 previous convictions for offences including larceny, assault, possession of drugs, threatening to kill, and a hit and run incident. The unemployed man was a regular drug user — and by his own admission — he associated with known Limerick city criminals, the court heard.
Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed a mandatory life sentence on the murder conviction.
Seconds later, a mass brawl broke out in the hallway of Limerick County Courthouse between relatives of the accused and the deceased.
Detectives and uniformed gardai managed to break up the ugly scenes and members of the opposing families were escorted separately from the building.