A man who stabbed another man 40 times at his house in Co Wicklow has been found not guilty of his murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Darren Houlden, of The Crescent, Meadowvale, Arklow, attacked Stephen Kavanagh in the early hours of May 6th last year.
The jury heard very distressing evidence about how Stephen Kavanagh died.
His girlfriend told them she saw Darren Houlden repeatedly stab him while kneeling on his back.
She described it as a “slaughtering”.
The court heard it happened after Stephen accused him of stealing his stash of crack cocaine.
The three of them had been taking drugs all weekend.
Houlden admitted stabbing him, but claimed he was provoked.
His barrister, Brendan Grehan, said he just “lost control and snapped”.
Houlden claimed he attacked him to stop him making a call to a gang of men with guns.
Mr Grehan told the jurors “fear” was at the heart of the case.
After three hours and 16 minutes, the jury acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
His sentence hearing will take place in February.
Reporting by Frank Greaney
