A LURGAN man who killed a woman with an axe has been sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for manslaughter.
David Collins (38), a father of two, from Darling Avenue, Lurgan, had been charged with murdering Louise Johnston (23), a neighbour, but a Belfast jury took only 45 minutes to acquit him.
Instead, the Crown Court jury yesterday unanimously convicted Collins of manslaughter "by reason of impaired mental responsibility".
Collins, who admitted creeping up on Ms Johnston and bludgeoning her with an axe, claimed he had "cracked" under the strain of a family feud between them.
Two psychiatrists told the court he could not be held to be mentally responsible for the frenzied attack on May 4th last year.
Earlier, the dead woman's father, two brothers and a family friend were arrested in court following scuffles with the police. They were detained and did not hear Mr Justice McCollum jail Collins for what he termed as the "abrupt and extremely violent ending" of a young mother's life.
Ms Johnston's brothers, Mark and Stephen Johnston, criticised the sentence, describing it as "disgraceful". Her mother, Catherine, said Collins's wife would "still be able to see and visit him. I have to visit my daughter in a graveyard."