Robbie Walsh jailed for manslaughter after fatal stabbing

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

Robbie Walsh was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to eight years in prison for the manslaughter of Karl Haugh, with the final year suspended for three years. Ms Justice Carmel Stewart imposed the sentence on 8 April 2019.

Walsh had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Haugh. A jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on 13 February 2019.

Mr Haugh died after being stabbed during an altercation at Marion Estate, Kilkee, on 6 August 2017. Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis said a single stab wound punctured his lung and caused massive bleeding.

Walsh told gardaí he picked up a knife that Mr Haugh had dropped during the fight and stabbed him in the back. He maintained that he had acted in self-defence and had not brought the knife to the scene. The judge said it had been established at trial that Walsh did not bring a knife to the altercation.

The judge said Walsh had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter before trial, but the Director of Public Prosecutions had not accepted the offer. She said his admission to gardaí was crucial to the investigation and that there was no forensic evidence connecting him to the crime.

The sentence was backdated to 8 August 2017, when Walsh went into custody. The judge recommended that he attend addiction and counselling services in prison. The proceedings were reported on 8 April 2019.