A man has been sentenced to life, after being found guilty at the Central Criminal Court of a neighbour's murder in 2003. The jury of seven men and five women took 4½ hours to reach a verdict.
Darren Rogers (21), Elmdale Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Thomas Farrell, Cherry Orchard Avenue, Ballyfermot, on November 27th, 2003. Mr Rogers later went to the local Garda station and admitted to stabbing him in the lower back, saying: "I didn't even think I caught him proper."
During the two-week trial, the jury heard how Mr Farrell had found the accused and his friend, Kenneth Murphy, trying to steal his car from his driveway on November 26th, 2003. An argument followed and Rogers claimed the deceased was "throwing slaps" at him before going back into his house to get a hammer. Rogers followed him into his hallway and stabbed him in front of his partner and children. Last week, two family members, aged 13 and 12, gave evidence by video link about seeing their stepfather killed.
There were differing testimonies about whether Mr Farrell was standing up or leaning into his toolbox when stabbed. An independent pathologist thought it more than likely that he was bent over. Opinion differed too about what Mr Farrell was planning to do if he got the hammer. His family claimed he was going to threaten the accused. But Rogers said he was afraid he would hit him.
The cause of death was not fully clear in this case, with new evidence forcing the State Pathologist to revise her findings halfway through the trial. In her post-mortem examination on Mr Farrell's body, Dr Marie Cassidy found a stab wound to the shoulder area of the back, and tracked it through the lung and into the heart. She said the pulmonary artery in the lung had been ruptured and that there was an entry and exit wound in the heart. She concluded that he "bled to death" as a result of these injuries, caused by "a single stab wound to the back". But a surgeon, who operated on Mr Farrell in his final hours, told the court that his team inflicted the wounds to the heart in a "last-ditch" effort to carry out cardiac massage. Dr Cassidy was recalled and changed her report, siting "blood-loss from the lung" as the most-likely cause of death.
Earlier this week, the jury got a glimpse into Rogers's life at the time of the killing. The then 20-year-old was living in his parents' shed, having been thrown out of their house due to his drinking problem.
On the day Mr Farrell was stabbed to death, Rogers said he had been drinking lager and whiskey for about six hours. He insisted it was his first day ever to try spirits. He described the stabbing as an accident: "I just went out to rob a car that night. That was it. I never intended to murder anyone."
Yesterday, after the verdict was read out, members of Mr Farrell's family shouted "Yes", while his partner of 10 years broke down. Ms Justice Dunne imposed the mandatory life sentence.