A jury has ruled that a 43-year-old man from Co Down committed a crime of passion when he stabbed his woman friend of eight years to death after finding her in bed with his older brother. The jury found the man guilty of manslaughter on the ground of provocation. In Armagh Crown Court yesterday Mr Justice Girvan ordered that Gabriel Finnegan, unemployed, of Castleview, Gilford, should return to prison to be sentenced at a later date.
Throughout the four-day trial, Finnegan had sat with bowed head. He did not go into the witness-box to speak in his own defence. As he was led from the dock by prison officers, a female relative of the dead woman shouted "bastard" at him.
The jury of six men and six women took 10 minutes to acquit Finnegan of murdering but guilty of the manslaughter of Elizabeth Bickerstaff (43), in her home at Miller Park in Lawrencetown. Ms Bickerstaff, a mother of four, died from a wound to the heart shortly after admission to Craigavon Area hospital on June 23rd last year.