A JURY yesterday acquitted a 22-year-old Dublin man of murder but found him guilty of the manslaughter of an armed supermarket raider.
David Wilson (22), of Marigold Avenue, Darndale, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Paul Howe (22), of Glenshane Crescent, Tallaght, in a car park at the rear of Supervalu on the Howth Road on October 8th, 2008.
It was the prosecution’s case that Wilson stabbed Howe seven times as he attempted to make his getaway following an armed robbery at the store.
After 15 hours and nine minutes of deliberations over three days the jury of seven men and five women brought in a majority verdict in the Central Criminal Court.
During the trial the jury saw CCTV footage from Supervalu on the night of the killing showing the deceased and another man threatening female cash attendants with knives before fleeing the store.
Wilson and a group of men were seen standing outside the shop looking in as the robbery unfolded. The accused was recorded throwing a can at the deceased as he ran out of the shop before pursuing him, followed by the security guard and others.
Deepak Daulat, the security guard, gave evidence he chased the deceased while armed with a walking stick. He told the court he caught up with Howe first, with Wilson following behind, and pulled him from the wall.
Mr Daulat said he wrestled Howe to the ground and hit him twice with the stick, which caused him to drop the knife.
The court heard the next time Mr Daulat saw the knife was when Wilson had it in his hand and was stabbing the deceased.
Witnesses told the court they saw the deceased man on the ground being kicked by the accused and three other men.
Colm Coughlan, a member of staff at Supervalu, told the court he saw Wilson stab the deceased three times before he stopped, walked off, and then ran back to stab him a final time.
In Garda interviews the accused said he never meant to kill anyone and only stabbed Howe to calm him down.
Howe also suffered blunt force trauma to his head and body likely caused by being punched and kicked, and being struck with a long narrow object.
At time of death Howe had €850 in his pocket, stolen from the store minutes before the killing.
Mr Justice George Birmingham thanked the jury for their extraordinary care and attention in what was not an easy case.
He exempted the jurors from further jury service for life, saying they had in his view arrived at a conclusion which was entirely just and proper.
Mr Justice Birmingham remanded Wilson to appear before him again on Monday, November 22nd for sentencing.