A 23-year-old Dublin man, who was found guilty of murdering a young father in 2012, has successfully appealed his conviction.
Andrew Gibney of Drumheath in Mulhuddart claimed the judge made a mistake when he refused to put a partial defence to the jury.
When Gerard Burnett answered a late night knock on the door of his girlfriend’s house on Aug 21st 2012, a knife flashed into the doorway and he was dragged outside where he was beaten by a gang of men and stabbed 30 times.
Andrew Gibney had been drinking at a friend’s house earlier that night when they decided to get some more alcohol off Mr Burnett.
A witness said he saw him grab a knife before they left and heard him saying he’d kill the 28-year-old if he “got smart”.
Mr Gibney admitted stabbing him three times but insisted he never intended to kill him or cause him serious harm.
This, his barrister argued, was a partial defence that should have been put to the jurors to allow them consider the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Today, the Court of Appeal decided the trial judge was in error in refusing to do so and his appeal was allowed on this ground.
The DPP will now have to decide whether to go ahead with a retrial.
