A 31-year-old man has been convicted of the murder of a man he stabbed to death in what was described as a determined, murderous attack after a row at his home two years ago.
Derek Boyd from Scribblestown Place in Finglas, Dublin had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mark Carroll at Boyd’s home on 9 June 2024.
The trial at the Central Criminal Court heard the two men and their partners had been drinking together at Boyd’s home when a late night argument started.
Boyd said he told Mark Carroll to leave his home but said Mr Carroll returned moments later and repeatedly threatened to kill him.
He told gardaí he grabbed a kitchen knife and warned Mr Carroll not to come any closer but said Mr Carroll had tried to take the knife from him during a struggle and he believed he would have used it against him.
He said he swung the knife at Mr Carroll but did not intend to kill or seriously harm him.
Mark Carroll, 34, suffered three stab wounds and died from a 10.5cm stab wound to the chest which a pathologist described as an unsurvivable wound.
Mr Carroll’s partner Megan Rock said he had gone back to the house to see if Boyd had calmed down and minutes later she saw him run from the house with Boyd in pursuit.
She said Boyd then went for her and pulled her to the ground.
His defence team said it was an entirely motiveless killing after a day of socialising between men who considered themselves friends.
Senior Counsel Brendan Grehan said he had acted out of instinct when he felt under attack.
Mr Grehan said a person was entitled to defend themselves in their own home when someone enters uninvited.
He said this was exactly what happened in Boyd’s kitchen well after midnight after he had ordered Mr Carroll and his partner to leave his home.
He said Boyd fleeing to the UK after the event did not mean he was guilty of murder but had left because he had a “Sword of Damocles” hanging over him in the form of a suspended sentence which would have meant him going back to prison.
Emergency services were called to scene in the Scribblestown area of Finglas on 9 June 2024
However, the prosecution said it was a determined, murderous attack and said Mr Carroll had reasonably returned to the house to sort out the earlier row.
Prosecuting Counsel Sean Guerin said Boyd had run away to the UK after the attack and stayed away for a year instead of telling the truth.
He said when Boyd returned he did not tell gardaí about explicit threats to kill but had “beefed up” the words used by Mr Carroll to make the jury believe he was under threat.
He said the account given to the jury by Boyd was outlandish and unbelievable.
After almost nine hours of deliberation, the jury of eleven people returned a unanimous guilty verdict on the charge of murder.
The jury failed to reach a verdict on a charge against Boyd of assaulting Mr Carroll’s partner Ms Rock.
It also failed to reach a verdict on a charge of assisting an offender against Mr Boyd’s partner Chantelle Harcourt from Primrose Gardens in Darndale, Dublin.
Boyd will be sentenced next Tuesday to the mandatory sentence of life in prison when it is expected that victim impact statements will be heard.