Courts / Cork / Report

Teen who murdered Cameron Blair gets life with minimum of 13 years to be served

Date
2020-04-20

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Cork City

County
Cork

Summary

A 17‑year‑old boy was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 13 years for the murder of 20‑year‑old Cameron Blair, a college student, outside a house party in Cork city. The boy stabbed Blair in the neck with a kitchen knife on 16 January 2020. He pleaded guilty and the judge, Mr Justice Paul McDermott, described the killing as deliberate, extreme violence and "shocking". The sentence will be reviewed in November 2032, with the earliest possible release in January 2033, subject to the boy's behaviour in custody. The boy will be detained at Oberstown Children Detention Campus until he turns 18, when he will be transferred to an adult prison. The sentence was back‑dated to 24 January 2020. The judge emphasised that the use of knives by young people must be deterred and the public protected. The sentence was delivered at the Central Criminal Court on 20 April 2020.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Teen who murdered Cameron Blair gets life with minimum of 13 years to be served. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

January 16, 2020 Other
January 16 Hearing Or Sentence
November 2032 Hearing Or Sentence
January 24, 2033 Other
January 24, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
April 3 Hearing Or Sentence
2020-04-20 Publication

Why: The boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor, pleaded guilty last month to murdering Cameron Blair on Bandon Road in Co Cork on January 16, 2020. CNI source report

Case subjects

Unnamed accused

Defendant

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Mr Justice McDermott then sentenced the teenager to detention for life with a review in November 2032 but said he must serve a minimum of 13 years. "The aggravating features require that this review only occur after a substantial period in custody," he said. In summary, the judge said it was inevitable that the teenager would be transferred to an adult prison within a relatively short time of being sentenced.