A killer who stabbed a man to death should have avoided the tragedy by listening to his mum and stay at home, a judge said yesterday.
Justice Tony Hunt was speaking during a sentence hearing for Blake Sweeney after he knifed Robert Elston, who was armed with an axe, for torching his family’s car.
He said: “He should have listened to his mother... She could see there was no need for it.
“Mr Elston made poor decisions in setting things off but Mr Sweeney pursued him down the road with tragic consequences.”
The court also heard Mr Elston’s father was stabbed to death in an unrelated incident years earlier.
Det Garda Bat Lynch told a lawyer the deceased, 33, set fire to Sweeney’s brother’s car at Fertha Drive, Cahersiveen, Co Kerry on May 23 last year.
The accused, who had been asleep, woke up and later claimed Mr Elston had been outside shouting and holding an axe.
Sweeney, 21, put out the blaze and followed the victim to another house in the street and banged on the door while carrying an 8ins “butcher” knife.
A woman let him in and he had a fight with Mr Elston, who was wielding an axe, in the sitting room.
Justice Hunt said one of the bases to justify the manslaughter verdict in July was the jury found it
reasonably possible the deceased was armed.
He added: “If it wasn’t for the fact an axe was produced there was so little justification [for Sweeney pursuing Elston with a knife] that murder would have been likely.”
The trial heard Mr Elston had two stab wounds and his major artery was severed as he was knifed in the back.
Sweeney dropped the weapon in an alleyway but pointed out its location when gardai arrived.
Garda Lynch agreed with a lawyer the accused appeared remorseful at what had happened.
The officer added Sweeney has 22 previous convictions, six were for burglary and two for theft.
In a victim impact statement, the deceased’s brother David Elston said he had been a devoted father and their devastated mum now seldom leaves her bedroom.
A defence lawyer asked Justice Hunt to consider his client’s early offer to plead guilty to manslaughter and the fact the deceased was carrying an axe.
The judge said: “If they both had their time over none of this would happen.”
He added he would look at the court rulings over another manslaughter case and adjourned sentencing until November 11.
