A TEENAGER who began taking drugs when he was 12-years-old stabbed a man to death using a knife he kept hidden behind a bin near a busy main street, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
The court was also told today that the defendant, who is not facing a mandatory life sentence because he was a child when he carried out the murder, is at “high risk” of reoffending without support interventions.
The now 19-year-old, who can’t be identified because he was 17 when he first came before the courts, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court in March to murdering Aaron Keating, 43, on June 13, 2023 at Main Street, Ongar, Dublin 15.
The deceased’s sister Linda Keating told today’s sentencing hearing that Aaron was the baby of the family, 16 years her junior.
She said: “I never thought he would be gone before me.”
She added: “I never imagined anything like this would happen to our family. It’s something that you read about or that happens to somebody else and not to us. The effect of this is huge on all of us.”
She said she lives with the constant fear that “something like this” could happen again.
She added: “There are the sleepless nights when you know your relatives are out and about, doing their thing. The fear when walking to your car at night.
“The sadness in your heart when certain music is playing, the films that you can’t watch any more, constantly talking about the what ifs.”
Another sister, Debbie Keating, described Aaron as her “colourful brother and also my friend”.
She said: “Sometimes I forget for a second that he’s gone, like when I’m telling a story about something that happened when we were children, but then the harsh reality hits that he isn’t coming back.”
‘HARMELESS SOUL’
John Keating, the deceased’s brother, said the family’s world was “turned upside down by the horrible events” of that day, leaving them empty as they relive how he died. He described his brother as a “harmless soul who was liked by everyone who met him.”
Det Gda Jenny Greene told prosecution senior counsel James Dwyer that the defendant was hanging around Ongar, smoking cannabis with a group of teenagers from about 3pm that afternoon.
He had a number of interactions with Mr Keating, who had suffered mental health difficulties all his life.
At about 6pm, “something triggered a reaction” in Mr Keating, who pushed the youth up against a window.
The defendant ran to a common area at the bottom of steps leading up to apartments where he had earlier stashed a knife behind a bin.
In later garda interviews, the accused would say that he kept the knife there for his protection.
The other youths who had been with the defendant encouraged Mr Keating to leave the area.
He crossed the street but about 90 seconds after the previous interaction, the defendant appeared wearing his t-shirt over his head and face and carrying a knife.
STAB ATTEMPTS
He ran towards Mr Keating and made “a number of attempts to stab him”, inflicting one stab wound to the abdomen, Det Gda Greene said.
Mr Keating collapsed within seconds and died from the injury.
State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster found that the knife had cut the aorta, causing massive bleeding.
The defendant went to a garda station the following morning with his mother and admitted to what he had done.
In subsequent interviews, he said he had been smoking cannabis and taking mushrooms when Mr Keating asked him for a joint. He said he laughed, refused to give him a joint and called Mr Keating a junkie.
He claimed the deceased attacked him so he ran to get the knife so he could “get him before he gets me”.
He said he didn’t want Mr Keating to die but wanted to scare him.
‘HE TRIGGERED ME’
He said: “He was egging me on. I don’t know what he said but he triggered me.”
Seamus Clarke SC, for the defendant, reminded the court that a recent Supreme Court ruling has stated that children should only receive life sentences for murder in exceptional cases.
The evidence in this case, he said, was of an “impulsive lashing out by a child”.
The fatal encounter lasted just five seconds and the deceased suffered one stab wound that “unfortunately” severed his aorta, counsel said.
He said his client had asked him to express his remorse and regret for what he did.
The court heard the defendant had suffered a number of medical issues as a child that led to him disengaging from his education.
He started using drugs aged 12 and in one report since going into custody, the defendant said he has taken a “litany of almost every drug you can think of apart from heroin,” Mr Clarke said.
PROBATION REPORT
A probation report shows that he has had disciplinary issues while in detention and he is at a high risk of reoffending without interventions.
A probation officer set out conditions for any period of supervision that might be ordered by the court.
Mr Clarke asked the judge to tailor a sentence to mark the seriousness of the offence and to offer the greatest chance for rehabilitation.
Mr Clarke: “He will be released at some stage.
“I ask the court to put in place measures to assist him in moving forward and to benefit society.”
If he can turn his life around, “that will be of great significance not only to him but to society at large,” Mr Clarke said.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott adjourned sentencing until July 7 next.
Aaron Keating, 43, was killed on June 13, 2023 at Main Street, Ongar, Dublin 15[/caption]
