Two men have been jailed for life after they were convicted of murdering a 24-year-old plasterer in Cork last year.
The Central Criminal Court was told that father-of-two Brian McKee was stabbed 11 times after he was attacked with knives and broken bottles.
Brian McKee lived with his parents at Mahon in Cork. On the night of 24 August last year he became involved in a row with his former girlfriend after he had been drinking. He had also taken cocaine.
The row spread and involved two other men, 29-year-old Jason Quinlan from Mahon, and 25-year-old John Brett from Leitrim Street in Cork.
The prosecution in this trial alleged that John Brett and Jason Quinlan attacked Brian McKee armed with knives and broken bottles.
Jason Quinlan, who had been drinking and had taken heroin as well as three or four lines of cocaine, told gardaí he could have stabbed Brian McKee three times; in court he said he stabbed him once.
John Brett, who had also been drinking, had about 10 lines of cocaine. He claimed he only punched Brian McKee, but his co-accused asked how that could be when Brett was covered ‘top to toe, back to front’ in Brian McKee's blood.
This evening, after deliberating for just over six-and-a-half hours, the jury of nine men and two women delivered majority guilty verdicts and John Brett and Jason Quinlan were convicted of Brian McKee's murder.
In a victim impact statement read in court, Brian McKee's father Patrick described the murder as brutal and totally unnecessary.
In the past seven-and-a-half years John Brett has amassed 68 convictions for offences including drug dealing, assault, criminal damage and burglary, while Jason Quinlan's 33 previous convictions include threats to kill and possession of weapons.
The trial was told that after the attack on Brian McKee, both men ran from the area laughing. Mr Justice Paul Carney described the case as disturbing and sentenced both men to life in prison.
