A man who stabbed a boxer to death with a steak knife has been jailed for five years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Sean Anthony Leahy (27), with an address at Glenmoy Lawn, Mayfield, Cork, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Roberto Minotti (31), of Haroldville Avenue, Rialto, Dublin, on December 8th, 1997.
Mr Minotti's sister, Ms Anna Spaziani, who had flown to Ireland from Frosinone, Italy, ran from the court when sentence was imposed and shouted: "You bastard".
Judge Frank O'Donnell, in sentencing, said he took into account Leahy's previous clear record and the fact that he had attempted to commit suicide in the last year. He set a sentence review date of February 15th, 2001.
Judge O'Donnell said it was clear there were incidents that left Leahy and his family in fear of Mr Minotti. He was left with the impression that the accused man had alerted gardai a number of years earlier out of fear of Mr Minotti, but the gardai could not act as it was a domestic situation.
Mr Minotti had bragged of beating people up and had in the past been shot at by another person. He had also informed the defendant that he was in possession of a handgun and had created a state of intimidation.
Det Insp Declan Coburn told Ms Isobel Kennedy, prosecuting, that the killing happened after Mr Minotti came to the home of his girlfriend of five years, Ms Anne Marie Leahy, to arrange to visit their nine-month-old child. He sat in the sitting room with his girlfriend, their baby, her mother and another friend.
Leahy arrived soon afterwards and went to a back room of the house to play chess with a friend. Leahy then overheard an argument between Mr Minotti, his sister, Anne Marie, and her mother concerning the couple's relationship. He got a small steak knife from the kitchenette and placed it in his back pocket before telling Mr Minotti to "keep it down. There is a baby in the house".
Mr Minotti took off his jacket and Leahy said: "You don't talk to my sister like that", before he plunged the knife into Mr Minotti's chest. Mr Minotti staggered backwards and fell on to his stomach on the floor.
Det Insp Coburn agreed with Mr Eamonn Leahy SC, defending, that the defendant then fell on Mr Minotti's body and cried: "What have I done? What have I done?" He tried to take Mr Minotti's pulse but his friend said: "I think he is dead."
An ambulance was called and Mr Minotti was pronounced dead at 8.30 p.m. Leahy became very upset afterwards, saying: "I didn't mean to do it. Oh my God, I never hoped this would happen."
He stood at the open door and tried to flag down what he thought was an unmarked Garda car with plainclothes members. When the gardai approached the front door he said: "It's me. I'm who you want", and exclaimed: "I didn't mean to stab him."
The court was told that Mr Minotti was a well-known Italian boxer and was also an accordion player for the Italian ambassador in his hometown of Lazio, outside Rome.
Mr Leahy said there had been few cases where the regret and remorse of one man had been as powerful as in this case. He said his client had had a troubled childhood and had been homeless and in care but had still managed to reached 27 years of age without a single conviction.
He asked Judge O'Donnell to bear in mind the circumstances in which matters had moved and that it was a single stab that had resulted in death. He said the accused man was not like others who travelled from the border of murder to the border of misadventure, and had accepted that his actions were criminal and warranted punishment.
Judge O'Donnell said the accused man must have realised that the knife he had used had the potential to cause serious damage.
Mr Minotti's family had suffered extreme grief, but revenge in this country was not the course of action a court took in sentencing.