David Mahon loses appeal against manslaughter sentence

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

David Mahon lost his appeal against a seven-year manslaughter sentence at the Court of Appeal on 7 December 2017. The proceedings were reported on 7 December 2017.

Mahon had pleaded not guilty to murdering Dean Fitzpatrick. He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter before his murder trial.

Fitzpatrick suffered a fatal stab wound to the abdomen outside the apartment his mother, Audrey Fitzpatrick, shared with Mahon at Burnell Square, Northern Cross, Dublin. A Central Criminal Court jury acquitted Mahon of murder and convicted him of manslaughter. On 13 June 2016, Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan sentenced him to seven years in prison.

The State argued that Mahon was drunk, angry and agitated when he thrust a knife into Fitzpatrick with deadly intent. Mahon said the death was an accident or possible suicide and claimed Fitzpatrick had walked into the knife during an argument.

On appeal, Mahon’s counsel Seán Guerin SC argued that the jury’s verdict meant it had not been satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mahon had stabbed Fitzpatrick. Mr Justice George Birmingham said there were several possible routes to the manslaughter verdict; the court rejected the argument that it definitively meant Mahon had produced the knife to frighten Fitzpatrick.

The three-judge court found the sentence fell within the available range and was broadly consistent with similar cases. It cited aggravating factors including Mahon following Fitzpatrick, producing a large knife during an altercation, leaving the scene and failing to seek medical assistance. It also noted his pretrial guilty plea to manslaughter and that he had no previous convictions of relevance.