A youth aged 17 has been found guilty of the manslaughter of 14-year-old Ben Smyth, who was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver in Tallaght last year.
The youth cannot be named because he was a minor at the time. He denied murder but admitted striking Ben Smyth of Cushlawn Park, Tallaght, on the head on the night of August 19th, 1998.
The offence took place as Ben Smyth sat on a wall outside his home with his brother, David, and other children.
By unanimous verdict in the Central Criminal Court yesterday, a jury of seven men and five women acquitted the youth of murder but found him guilty of the manslaughter, after deliberating for two hours and 20 minutes. Sentencing was adjourned until Thursday, November 18th.