David Mahon jailed for 7 years for killing Dean Fitzpatrick

David Mahon has been sentenced to seven years in custody for the manslaughter of his partner's son, Dean Fitzpatrick.

The 45-year-old was cleared of murdering the father of one on May 26th, 2013. He had pleaded not guilty.

The 23-year-old received a stab wound to the abdomen outside the apartment that his mother, Audrey Fitzpatrick, shared with Mahon at Burnell Square, Northern Cross.

Mahon claimed that his death was an accident or possible suicide and that Mr Fitzpatrick, the the older brother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick, had "walked into the knife" while they had been arguing.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan said “I assess the gravely serious offence as meriting 10 years in prison.”

“Taking into account the mitigating factors, I sentence David Mahon to seven years in custody.”

Ms Justice Heneghan handed down the sentence following the hearing of submissions on behalf of the State and Mahon at his sentencing hearing two weeks ago. She also heard victim impact statements prepared by his father, partner and his mother, who is now married to David Mahon.

She noted Monday morning that Mahon had said he accepted the jury’s verdict and would not appeal his conviction.

She also noted that he had offered a plea to manslaughter and that she was bound by the superior courts to take this into consideration in sentencing.

She noted that he had a number of previous convictions, but took into consideration only one conviction for dangerous driving. This was because he had received a suspended four-month prison sentence for that offence and killed Mr Fitzpatrick during the currency of the suspension.

“The court views this as an aggravating factor,” she said.

She outlined a number of other aggravating factors, including “the inherent gravity of the crime”, the fact Mahon had a knife in his possession, the production of the knife and the fact that Mr Fitzpatrick’s death was caused by the man describing himself as his stepfather.

She also took into consideration his disposal of the knife and the circumstances of that disposal.

She took into account a number of mitigating factors, including his early plea of guilty to manslaughter, early admissions, cooperation with gardaí, expressions of remorse and his apology through his counsel. She said she considered his previous good character and the fact that he had no history of violence.

She also considered his medical and personal difficulties as mitigation. She said she also took into account all of the victim impact statements as well as testimonials furnished by three different people on behalf of the accused.

Having delivered the sentence, Ms Justice Heneghan backdated it to the date of his conviction, when Mahon went into custody. She said he would also receive credit for the time he spent in custody after being charged and before being granted bail.

There was little reaction in court.

The judge moved straight onto Mahon’s application for leave to apply for a notice of motion against three newspapers; among other complaints, he claimed they were in contempt of court for their reporting of his case between conviction and sentencing.

“My decision in sentencing has not been influenced by any of the material published,” she said, refusing the application and awarding costs against Mahon.

Mahon was then taken into custody to begin his seven-year term. His wife, Audrey, moved to the back of the court, where she sat and cried silently, being comforted by Mahon’s father and legal team.