A Dublin man who admitted to stabbing a 32-year-old-man he found lying in his bed has been found guilty of his murder.
Trevor Corr (39) had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of James Humphries (32) at Kiltalown Way in Tallaght on September 22nd, 2013. This plea was not accepted by the State.
On Monday a Central Criminal Court jury found Corr guilty by unanimous verdict of murdering Mr Humphries at Kiltalown Way, Tallaght. They had deliberated for two hours and 40 minutes.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy thanked the 11 jury members for their time and exempted them from jury service for a period of 10 years.
Last Friday a juror in the trial was discharged after two hours deliberating when it was brought to the court’s attention that he was not available to come to court on Monday.
Defence counsel for Corr, Brendan Grehan SC, told the court he was tasked to indicate on behalf of his client “his profound regret and sorrow that he caused the loss of life” of Mr Humphries and “there is nothing he can say that can change that.”
Mr Grehan asked the court to backdate the sentence. The court heard Corr was presently on bail but had spent “just over four and a half months in custody before being granted bail.”
Mr Justice McCarthy then sentenced Corr to life imprisonment and backdated it to August 1 2015.
Counsel for the State Denis Vaughan Buckley SC called Garda Sarah Bolger of Tallaght Garda station to read two victim impact statements to the court.
The first was written by Mr Humphries’ mother, Ms Ellen Radford.
“On July 17th, 1981 my son was placed in my arms for the first time, just minutes after he took his first breath. He was so precious, his face so flawless, his skin so soft and I whispered I love you son for the first time,” read Garda Bolger.
The court heard how on September 25th, 2013 Ms Radford was led to a “cold table” where her “beautiful son lay” and “this time his face was not flawless” but his skin was “only cold, very cold and I whispered I love you son for the last time”.
In the victim impact statement Ms Radford said she has tried to find the words to describe how James’ murder has impacted on her life but there were “no adequate words” to describe “the pain, anger and despair” that she has felt from his murder.
The court also heard a victim impact statement from the brother of the deceased Karl Humphries, where he said the death of his brother James has had a “profound effect” on him and the rest of his family.