A Traveller who killed his identical twin brother in a drink- and drug-fuelled fight was jailed for 3½ years yesterday.
Newry Crown Court, sitting in Armagh heard that Owen Paul Maughan, Drumellen Gardens, Graigavon, stabbed his brother Séamus Anthony in the elbow with a broken bottle on February 24th last year after they had been drinking Buckfast and smoking cannabis.
After he agreed to spend a further year on probation, Mr Justice Deeney told Maughan that he will "have to live with the fact that this was your own twin brother, the best man at your wedding and described by you as your best friend".
However, the judge added that although this was a "unique" case with an "element" of accidental death, "nevertheless, a man has died as a result of your actions on that night and I cannot disregard or overlook that".
Earlier, prosecuting QC Ken McMahon had told him that the two brothers and a cousin, John Paul Maughan, had been drinking and smoking cannabis in the front of John Paul's van in and around Markethill, close to where Séamus lived.
The lawyer said the brothers, who were both 21 at the time, "frequently fought" when they were drinking but added that at the beginning, "the atmosphere was jovial".
Defence QC Anthony Cinnamond described the case as "exceptionally tragic and heart rending" for which Owen had expressed considerable remorse.
"They grew up in the same house, played together, worked together, were constant companions who went everywhere together - he has not only lost his twin brother but he has also lost his best friend," said Mr Cinnamond.
The lawyer said, "no member of this very large family seeks revenge or retribution".
Mr Justice Deeney said it was clear, even from words said by Séamus, that no one "realised the gravity of the wound" and added that the case was "nothing short of tragic".