A Carlow man (22) has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for the manslaughter of a teenage father-of-one he stabbed to death in 2001.
Passing sentence on John Dillon at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Barry White said a "loud and clear message must go forth" that the use of knives for violence will not be tolerated.
Dillon, of Granby Row, Carlow was convicted of the manslaughter of Warren Slater (17) at Granby Row, Carlow on May 13th, 2001 by a unanimous jury verdict one month ago.
Dillon admitted the attack but claimed he acted in self-defense and was provoked by Mr Slater, who had allegedly tried to rape his mother some weeks before the fatal incident.
Mr Slater choked on his own blood after being stabbed three times by Dillon in a row outside his home. When arrested by the gardaí, Dillon said he thought Mr Slater had a knife behind his back and that he was going to stab him or his mother.
"He came at me, I thought he was going to stab me. I didn't mean to stab him...I will go to jail, I did not mean to kill him," he said.
Ms Noeleen Dillon, the mother of John Dillon told the trial that she was "nearly being raped" by Warren Slater a couple of weeks before the stabbing. She said Slater mentioned the alleged attempted rape during the row with her son on the street on the night of May 13th, 2001.
She said she heard her son, John, say: "You tried to rape my mother" and then heard Mr Slater say "So what?" or words to that effect. Mrs Dillon said her son "just flipped" after that exchange and that he ran into the house and returned with a knife.
Dillon gave evidence that he couldn't remember exactly what happened because he was "in a rage" at the time. Evidence emerged that Dillon had been on medication for anger management a year earlier, and he told gardaí he had a terrible temper.
Leave to appeal was refused.