THE FATHER of a man stabbed to death by his neighbour has described to the Central Criminal Court how his young granddaughter asked if she could go to heaven for her birthday after her father was murdered.
Sean Murphy (snr) made his comments at the court sitting in Limerick yesterday where Richard Higgins (42), New Houses, Lattin, Co Tipperary, was jailed for life for killing his eldest son.
Higgins had denied killing Sean Murphy (29), who was stabbed to death with an ornamental dagger in Lattin on January 17th, 2010.
Higgins was also convicted of two counts of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Mr Murphy and his partner Paul Hassett in October 2009.
During the 12-day trial evidence was heard that Higgins stabbed his neighbour outside their homes in Lattin.
The jury was told the relationship between the neighbours deteriorated after the accused man’s partner complained that Mr Murphy’s children had been behaving inappropriately.
After his arrest Higgins claimed he had been acting in self-defence on the night of the murder.
He told gardaí he was in fear of Mr Murphy and he grabbed a knife from his kitchen to defend himself and his family after his neighbour had come after him with a plank of wood.
In his victim impact statement, the victim’s father, Sean Murphy (snr), said his family’s lives were shattered after his son was “brutally” taken from them.
His son’s two young children were given a life sentence the day the father they adored was murdered.
Mr Murphy recalled how his grand-daughter, who celebrated her birthday a month after the murder, asked if she could go to heaven for her birthday.
Referring to his son as “Seanie”, Mr Murphy refuted any suggestion that he was a violent man, and said his family had sought justice from the trial and not revenge.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy imposed the mandatory life sentence on the murder charge.
Sentencing on the other charges was adjourned until next week.