Courts / Dublin / Report
Rattigan gets nine years for 2001 killing
Summary
Brian Rattigan, 38, was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for the manslaughter of 21‑year‑old Declan Gavin, who was stabbed to death outside an Abrakebabra fast‑food restaurant on Crumlin Road in Dublin on 25 August 2001. Rattigan had previously pleaded guilty to murder in 2009, but that conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court in 2017. He entered a plea to manslaughter on 22 October 2018, and the court accepted the plea, citing the case's frailties and the passage of time. The judge noted aggravating factors, including Rattigan's drug‑ and alcohol‑related state and the fatal nature of the wound, and mitigating factors such as his guilty plea, completion of drug‑awareness courses, and a letter of apology to the Gavin family, which was deemed "too late" to mitigate. The sentence was back‑dated to 1 October 2018.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Rattigan gets nine years for 2001 killing. Charges or matters: murder but guilty to manslaughter. "The prosecution indicated that, given the exceptional features now associated with this case, the director would accept this plea to manslaughter because of those features," she said. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- August 25, 2001 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 22 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 1, 2018 Incident
- May 2025 Incident
- November 2019 Incident
- December 20 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2005 to 2008 Other
- 2019-01-24 Publication
Why: " "The scope of the investigation was difficult at the outset because we had an amount of reluctant witnesses and also when it came to trial some of the witnesses, even after being served witness orders, had to be arrested and brought to before the court, so there were several difficulties that it posed," he said. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: murder but guilty to manslaughter. "The prosecution indicated that, given the exceptional features now associated with this case, the director would accept this plea to manslaughter because of those features," she said (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Credit: Collins) By Alison O'Riordan and Natasha Reid Dublin criminal Brian Rattigan, who admitted killing his former friend and wrote a letter of apology to his mother asking for forgiveness, has been jailed for nine years at the Central Criminal Court for manslaughter. Mr Justice White sentenced Rattigan to nine years imprisonment, backdated to October 1, 2018.
Places mentioned
- Central Criminal Court
- Supreme Court
- The Supreme Court
- Cooley Road
- Crumlin Road
Topics
Drugs Stage Sentence Violent Crime
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