Rob Horgan
DAVE Mahon has been found guilty of manslaughter of his stepson Dean Fitzpatrick.
The stepdad of missing expat Amy Fitzpatrick had pleaded not guilty to murder after his stepson died from a single stab wound in Dublin in 2013.
A jury has now delivered a verdict of manslaughter and the court has been adjourned until May 30.
Dean Fitzpatrick was the older brother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick who went missing in Spain on New Year’s Day in 2008.
The 23-year-old received a single stab wound to the stomach following an altercation with Mahon.
In his closing argument, Defence counsel Sean Guerin said that the pathologist’s report suggested the fatal wound was an ‘accidental self-impalement’.
However, he admitted that Mahon was to blame.
“If Mr Mahon had not taken the knife out of his pocket Dean Fitzpatrick wouldn’t be dead, and he has admitted that,” Guerin said.
“Mr Mahon has admitted that taking the knife out was a very, very stupid thing to do and had tragic consequences”, he added, saying “he and Audrey will have to live with the knowledge of knowing that he was at fault.”
The family had moved to Spain in 2004, where the family had business interests. But Amy went missing four years later and they later returned to live in Ireland.
