No Verdict Reached In Trial Of Laois Man Accused Of Murder

Tuesday, 15 February 2022 17:05

Deliberations will resume tomorrow morning.

The jury in the trial of a Laois man accused of murdering a drunk fisherman who entered his home as a trespasser has been sent home without reaching a verdict.

Dean Kerrie, with an address in Portarlington, Co Laois, claims he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed Jack Power in Dunmore East, Co Waterford.

It happened in the early hours of July 26th 2018 when Mr. Kerrie was 17-years-old.

Last week, he told the jury that Mr. Power accidentally fell on a knife he had picked up to try and get him to stop assaulting his mother.

The 25 year old fisherman died from a single stab wound to the chest.

The prosecution claims he deliberately stabbed him after a scuffle inside the house.

The jurors will have to decide whether he was acting in self-defence.

With that in mind, they were told they have three possible verdicts open to them: not guilty, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter or guilty of murder.

The jurors will resume their deliberations tomorrow morning, having already spent just over one-and-a-half hours considering the evidence.