A Dublin man who stabbed his partner to death and then placed a photograph of himself and their baby in her hands was today jailed for life for murder.
Liam Wells (37) of Coultry Road, Ballymun, stabbed 24-year-old Linda Dunne 16 or 17 times at a flat at Sillogue Road, Ballymun on 18th September 2001.
Wells denied the murder charge but a jury convicted him at his trial last month. He pleaded guilty to two further charges of assault causing harm to Ms Dunne's mother, Kathleen Dunne and her partner Joseph White at Shangan Avenue Ballymun on the same date.
Imposing the mandatory life sentence for murder, Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Wells to four years for the assault on Mrs Dunne and three years for assaulting Mr White, the sentences to run concurrently. Mr Justice Carney said the convicted man was entitled to credit for his guilty plea on the assault charges. He backdated the sentences to 18th September 2001.
The court heard evidence that Liam Wells had four previous convictions, one for possession of an axe and two for possession of a knife at the couple's flat in September 2001.
During his trial, the court had heard that Liam Wells launched a frenzied attack on Linda Dunne. As she lay dying on a blood soaked couch, he placed a photograph of himself and their baby in her arms. He left the flat and went to Kathleen Dunne's home intending to kill her too, but was confronted by Joseph White in the hallway. Wells stabbed both of them before running off.