A Dublin man was sentenced to life in prison at the Central Criminal Court today after he pleaded guilty to murdering his wife.
Brian Vickers (43) of 35 Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin had previously pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of his wife Joan Vickers (43) on April 20th, 2009 at the family home.
Mr Paul McDermott SC, prosecuting, told the court that sometime between 12:30 and 4:30 am on that date Mr Vickers had stabbed his wife to death in the front bedroom of their home.
The accused and Joan Vickers had four children together and were described by prosecuting counsel as devoted parents.
The court heard that on the Sunday afternoon before the killing Mr Vickers and his wife had fought over whether he should go to the pub that evening rather than go to work.
Mrs Vickers went to the pub with a couple of friends without her husband who decided to go to work at the Dublin Docks where he had been employed as a crane operator for a number of years. Some time later one of Mrs Vickers companions telephoned Brian Vickers asking him to join them.
Detective Garda John Moriarty of Store Street Garda station, told prosecuting counsel Brian Vickers had consumed between eight to nine pints and four to five lines of cocaine during the course of the evening.
Brian Vickers told Det Gda Moriarty, during interviews, he and his wife had been singing and dancing with each other during their time at the pub.
He told gardaí: "I felt Joan was making gestures about me behind my back from the expression on my friends faces". The Vickers returned to their home around midnight at which point Mrs Vickers retired to her bedroom.
Mr Vickers told Det Gda Moriarty he knocked on his wife's bedroom door and asked if he could come in. Mrs Vickers told him he did not need to knock and when asked by her husband if he could stay with her in the bedroom that night she agreed.
Mr Vickers said he rubbed his wife's back but she told him to leave her alone and not touch her. He told gardai: "My mind started racing and I thought another rejection, I just kept thinking of all the things she had done to me.
"I just lost it I ran downstairs and grabbed a knife and I stabbed her in the neck."
Mr Vickers then rang his eldest son Richard to come to the house to bring him smokes but quickly rang him back telling him not to come.
He then got into his car and drove to the Quays where he telephoned his brother John Vickers and told him: "I'm after crossing the line with Joan." Mr Vickers then drove to his family home in Donaghmede where he met his brother and asked him if he could get him a gun.
Brian Vickers and his brother voluntarily went to Raheny Garda station at around 6am on the morning of the killing. John Vickers told gardaí: "I'm not 100 per cent sure about this but I think he just assaulted his wife with a knife."
Mr McDermott SC, prosecuting, told the court that between the time of the stabbing and Brian Vickers presenting himself at the Garda station no effort was made by him to attain any assistance for Mrs Vickers.
Prosecuting counsel told the court that when gardai arrived at the scene they found Mrs Vickers lying on the bed in the front bedroom of the house bleeding heavily.
Mr McDermott SC said: "Mrs Vickers was found with wounds to her throat and her left arm was raised above her head and she was clutching the broken off blade of a kitchen knife."
The court heard that State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy conducted the post-mortem and found three stab wounds to the neck, one which fatally severed her jugular vein.
There was also defensive wounds to Mrs Vickers hands which were inconsistent with Mr Vickers claims that his wife had been asleep when he inflicted the fatal injuries.
Dr Cassidy noted asphyxiation as a contributing cause of death which was due to Mrs Vickers either being grabbed by the neck or by her assailant sitting astride her body when she was stabbed thereby putting pressure on her chest.
Brian Vickers told gardai when interviewed when he realised what he had done he went downstairs to get a second knife and had tried to stick it in himself.
He said: "I just kept thinking what I had put into the relationship and she wasn't putting anything back into it and I just snapped."
Mr Michael O'Higgins SC. defending, told the court that Brian Vickers was a jealous man who became volatile when he drank.
Mr O'Higgins told the court that Mr Vickers had always provided for his family and had been a devoted parent. He re-iterated the apology he had made on the day of the killing.
Steven O'Connor, brother of the deceased, read to the court a victim impact statement in which various members of Mrs Vickers family expressed the effect her death had on them.
Mr O'Connor urged the court to "send a message to the cowards who victimise women to impose the maximum sentence".
Richard Vickers the eldest son of the deceased said the pain of the loss of their mother would be with him and his siblings forever.
Catherine O'Connor, the deceased's sister, said her heart was broken following her sisters death.
Before handing down sentence Mr Justice John Edwards asked prosecuting counsel to clarify if it would have made a difference if Mrs Vickers had received assistance immediately after the stabbing rather than being left by her husband for an hour before the Garda was contacted.
Mr McDermott SC said: "There was no evidence one way or another whether it would have made a difference, it simply wasn't done".
Mr Justice Edwards told Brian Vickers he had no discretion in relation to sentencing and that "the law requires that it is a mandatory life sentence I must impose on you to date from the April 20th, 2009".