Four-year sentence for Wexford manslaughter

A man convicted of the manslaughter of a father of one whom he stabbed in the neck in Wexford in May last year has been jailed…

A man convicted of the manslaughter of a father of one whom he stabbed in the neck in Wexford in May last year has been jailed for four years.

The two men had been drinking wine and vodka all day when Jurijs Princes claimed Robertas Stravinskas made comments insulting his girlfriend and implying he was homosexual.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court last month convicted Princes (29), Cromwellsfort House, Wexford, and originally from Latvia, of the manslaughter of Mr Stravinskas (29), a Lithuanian, but not guilty of his murder.

Yesterday Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins sentenced Princes to four years in prison and backdated the sentence to May last year, the date of his arrest. He said there were some strong factors in Princes's favour.

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"He showed immediate and genuine remorse in that he tried to save the deceased man by the application of bandages and I am also satisfied of the expression of remorse regarding the young child of the deceased and that he meant it."

In deciding the sentence Mr Justice O'Higgins said he had taken into account the fact that Princes would face additional isolation in an Irish prison.