A YOUTH WHO was 15 when he stabbed a man to death after the deceased taunted him over his father’s suicide has been sentenced to one year and four months detention.

The victim’s family previously told the court the defendant deserves a second chance, and they didn’t want his life “to stop here too”.

The deceased’s parents said their son, whom they “loved dearly”, had “struggled with alcohol” and had been told a few months before he died that “his days were numbered” because of it.

They described their son’s death as “inevitable” and said they did not want the defendant to have to “pay the price” for it.

“We believe he deserves a second chance,” they said. “We don’t want his life to stop here too.”

The Central Criminal Court previously heard that the two stab wounds inflicted on the victim – one which punctured his left lung and another which caused a 2cm laceration to his liver – would likely have been survivable were it not for the deceased’s underlying health problems and issues with alcohol.

The teenager stabbed the man after a confrontation in which the deceased suggested the youth could have saved his father, who had died by suicide weeks earlier. The following day the youth confronted the deceased, believing he had taken runners which his dead father had given to the defendant shortly before his death.

Passing sentence at the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said this case was “simply a profound tragedy” for all involved.

He noted the victim’s parents’ hope that the defendant be given a “chance in life” and their concerns for his future.

However, he said he was not satisfied that this is a case that should be regarded as “so exceptional” that a wholly suspended term should be imposed.

The judge sentenced the teenager to three years and six months detention but suspended the final 26 months for a period of two years.

He said this was necessary to “mark the seriousness of the offence” but also to provide some positive supports to the defendant in the future.

He said he recognised that “this boy’s life has been in turmoil” since his father’s suicide and he was of the view that a period of detention was necessary.

He said there should also be “close engagement” with the probation services and other agencies going forward to “address self-regulation” and to give the teenager direction, with further supports when he is released from detention.

He said the defendant should also receive any necessary psychological and mental health supports he may require.

Mr Justice McDermott noted the defendant is now aged 17 and five months. He said given the “positive aspects” of the teenager’s character and his “positive attitude”, he was “strongly recommending” that the youth serve the entirety of his detention at Oberstown Children’s Detention Centre.

He said there is provision for this in the Children’s Act despite the fact the youth will “age out” before his term of detention is completed.

Before imposing sentence, Mr Justice McDermott noted the defendant had just turned 15 when he found his father’s body following his suicide, something which undoubtedly would have been “a deeply traumatic experience for a boy of that age”.

Mr Justice McDermott said the victim had made comments to the teenager about his late father that were “deeply hurtful and offensive”.

The court previously heard that a woman who witnessed the stabbing told gardaí there had been an argument between the deceased and the defendant over a pair of runners.

She said they were shouting at each other and the deceased had “taunted” the youth about “not having been able to save his father from suicide”.

The woman said during the argument, the victim pulled a knife sharpener out of a drawer to “frighten off” the defendant, before she saw the teenager with a small knife in his hand and saw him stab the deceased in his left side.

A 14-year-old who also saw the stabbing take place told gardaí he saw the defendant hit the deceased with his fist before walking towards him again and “darting” at him a number of times with a knife.

Emergency services were called shortly after 2pm and the injured man was treated by paramedics at the scene before being brought to hospital.

The defendant accepted he had stabbed the deceased.

He said the victim “got into his face”, continued to verbally abuse him and was “acting crazy”.

The teenager told gardaí the victim pulled a knife sharpener out of a drawer and tried to hit him with it before he stabbed the man with a black folding knife “once or twice”.

Mr Justice McDermott noted the situation had “escalated quickly” with both parties reacting to each other and “emotions running very high”.

The judge said the fact that a number of attempts appeared to have been made to stab the victim in the course of the interaction between the two was a serious matter. He said the fact the stab wounds contributed to the death of the victim was “central to the case”.

He noted the deceased was a single man who had “problems with alcohol” for a number of years.

He said the victim, who had a history of chronic liver disease, was initially treated for his injuries in hospital but developed “multiple complications”.  

The judge said State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers had noted the stab wound could potentially have been survivable in a healthy individual.

He said the victim was in “very poor health” which compromised his recovery from his wounds.

He said there was nothing “pre-planned” or “pre-meditated” in the assault, noting the defendant had been “goaded” and “jeered at” by the victim who had armed himself with a knife sharpener at some stage during the altercation.

Mr Justice McDermott said following the incident, the youth has suffered from depression and PTSD and had “fleeting suicidal ideation”. He said the teenager has received psychological support, and ongoing support will be necessary in the future.

Mr Justice McDermott said the appropriate headline sentence had the defendant been an adult was eight years.

The judge said there was “very substantial mitigation in this case”, including the plea of guilty, the defendant’s expression of remorse and the fact he has no previous convictions. He noted the teenager was described in reports as a “polite, kind, gentle and engaging boy with a love of animals”.

He set a headline sentence of five years after taking the teenager’s youth into consideration, before reducing this further after mitigation to three years and six months with the final 26 months suspended.

If you need to talk, contact:

• HUGG, Support After Suicide, 01 513 4048, email support@HUGG.ie or visit HUGG.ie
• Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie
• Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
• Aware 1800 80 48 48
• Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
• Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)