Tomasz Paszkiewicz jailed for manslaughter and cleared of murder

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

Tomasz Paszkiewicz was jailed for nine years for the manslaughter of his housemate Marek Swider at the Central Criminal Court on 25 July 2019. A jury had cleared him of murder and convicted him of manslaughter.

Paszkiewicz had pleaded not guilty to murder and guilty to manslaughter. The proceedings were reported on 25 July 2019.

Swider, 40, was killed outside the men’s home on Dublin Street, Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, on 1 January 2018. He died from two stab wounds to his upper body.

Justice Tara Burns said Swider had won a lot of money from Paszkiewicz in a poker game. She recalled that Paszkiewicz picked up the money, Swider objected, and Paszkiewicz asked him to go outside. The judge said Paszkiewicz obtained his work knife from the kitchen.

Paszkiewicz told gardaí that he had no thoughts in his brain at the time and that he did not intend to kill Swider. The defence argued that his account showed a lack of the intent necessary for murder.

Justice Burns described the knife as extremely dangerous and noted Paszkiewicz’s expertise in using it. She set a 13-year headline sentence, reducing it to nine years because of his guilty plea, other mitigating factors and personal circumstances.