A man who told gardaí he was “so drunk” he could not remember fatally stabbing his sister’s partner with a kitchen knife, has been jailed for eight years for manslaughter.
Mr Justice David Keane said he accepted that Valeriu Melnic (24) was “heavily and voluntarily intoxicated” on the night he killed Ion Daghi (39), but that he believed this was an aggravating rather than a mitigating factor.
Melnic, a Moldovan national with an address at Calliaghstown Lower, Rathcoole, Co Dublin, pleaded not guilty in the Central Criminal Court to Mr Daghi’s murder, but guilty to his manslaughter at The Close, Sallins Park, Sallins, Co Kildare on May 12th, 2024.
A jury found Melnic not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on July 22nd last.
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In seeking a manslaughter verdict for his client, Brendan Grehan SC told the jury the issue of intoxication was “all over” the case. He said the consumption of three bottles of “firewater” had an effect on everyone that night.
The judge on Thursday said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Melnic was not under “deadly attack” by Mr Daghi that night and could have had no reasonable apprehension that he was.
The jury heard evidence that before the stabbing, Melnic was squatting down trying to protect his head while the victim held the leg of a chair and told him: “Stop or I’ll beat you.”
The court was told during Melnic’s sentencing hearing earlier this month that the defendant sought to write to his sister, Angelina Spinu, after the killing but could not find the words.
Mr Justice Keane on Thursday referred to a “simple and heart-rending” victim impact statement from Mr Daghi’s mother, Alexandra Daghi, about the “tragic and senseless death of her son”.
She said she had suffered an “irreplaceable” loss and there “will always be a stain” on her heart.
Melnic said during Garda interviews that he was so drunk he could not remember stabbing Mr Daghi, but later said “all the evidence pointed” to him being “the only one responsible”.
Before passing sentence, Mr Justice Keane said Mr Daghi and Ms Spinu had been in a long-term relationship. He said there had been some unspecified differences between Melnic and Mr Daghi, but these seemed to have been resolved.
The judge noted evidence from witness Alexandru Beccieu, who said he was drinking with Melnic and Mr Daghi in the back garden that night and the mood began to deteriorate and Melnic became verbally abusive. Mr Beccieu said Mr Daghi had calmed Melnic down.
Mr Justice Keane accepted that Melnic later became abusive towards Mr Daghi. Ms Spinu had said her brother grabbed a knife in the kitchen, telling Mr Daghi “I will kill you” before pushing it into the deceased man’s chest, he said.
The judge said he cannot know which of the defences had given rise to the jury’s reasonable doubt on the charge of murder.
He said the aggravating factor in the case was that Melnic armed himself with a knife. He accepted that the defendant was the first to start a verbal and physical altercation with the deceased, but could not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a considerable cooling off period between the incident in the back garden and the fatal stabbing inside the house.
He set a headline sentence of 13 years, but said Melnic’s plea of guilty to manslaughter at the commencement of the trial was a significant mitigating factor even if it was not accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He sentenced Melnic to 10 years in prison but suspended the final two years for a period of two years. The sentence was backdated to when Melnic went into custody on May 15th, 2024.
