A 52-year-old man who stabbed his daughter’s neighbour to death in a drunken rage has been sentenced to life in prison.
Patrick Murphy, of no fixed abode, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Joseph Brosnan (53), at Abbey Court, Tralee, on May 22nd, 2022.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court, unanimously convicted Mr Murphy of murder after rejecting the defence case that he was provoked.
Passing the mandatory term of life imprisonment Mr Justice Paul Burns said the deceased was a “decent man” who had been “viciously” stabbed by Murphy.
Mr Brosnan’s family delivered emotional victim impact statements in which they described him as a much-loved son, father and grandad.
Mr Brosnan, Kamil Lisowski and Mr Murphy had been sharing a drink at the apartment before some insults were passed.
Mr Lisowski slapped Murphy in the face but things calmed down again and people shook hands. However, the matter welled up again and Mr Murphy was asked to leave.
He came back and apologised but was subsequently “pushed out vigorously” from the apartment and fell to the ground outside.
Murphy returned a short time later armed with a large kitchen knife, which he used to stab the victim three times.
When he was arrested and interviewed, Murphy suggested that the victim had possibly suffered a seizure before eventually admitting that he had brought a knife to the scene and that he had stabbed Mr Brosnan.
The prosecution case was that there was no reason for Murphy to bring a knife to the apartment and that he had “a clear intention to kill or cause serious injury”.
Elizabeth Murphy BL, representing Murphy, said her client wished to sincerely express his remorse to Mr Brosnan’s family. Murphy had taken another man’s life and “understands the ramifications of that,” she said.
Imposing the mandatory term of life in prison Mr Justice Burns said Murphy had “acted in a drunken rage and carried out a vicious and cowardly knife attack on a defenceless and unarmed Mr Brosnan”.
Mr Brosnan’s daughter, Rachel Dunne, said her son “had a special bond like no other” with his grandfather but is now “still so traumatised from this tragedy” that he can’t bring himself to say the word “grandad”.
