Twin brothers who killed a man, who had been abusive and violent to their mother whom he had been in a relationship with, were distressed and remorseful after the killing, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
Eric and Sean Farrell, aged 21, from Castle Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ionel Nicolae Diaconu at the same address in Tallaght on 11 December 2023.
The 45-year-old man was stabbed eight times in the chest, neck, thighs and legs and died at the scene.
The brothers were 19 at the time of the killing and Eric Farrell said he was defending his brother Sean when he killed Mr Diaconu.
Eric Farrell told the gardaí that he had stabbed his mother's partner because he thought he was going to attack his brother after Mr Diaconu had picked up a hammer.
"I done it, I f**king done it, I ruined it for both of us," he told the garda who arrived at the scene that night.
"I don’t know how many times I stabbed him, I just done it. Is he ok? Is he going to be alright? Some Christmas this is going to be."
However, a witness told gardaí that he had seen Sean Farrell through the window of the house stabbing down that night but Eric insisted it was him and said the person must have seen him, not Sean.
When gardaí asked Eric Farrell why his brother Sean was covered in blood that night, he said Sean was on Mr Diaconu when Eric stabbed him.
"He had a hammer and a razor and he went to go at Sean and I done it."
Mr Diaconu had been in a relationship with the twins’ mother but she had moved out of the house with her younger children to a relative’s home nearby.
Mr Diaconu did not know where she had gone and the twins’ mother Tanya asked South Dublin County Council to move him out of the house in Castle Park and told them he was not registered there as a tenant.
The court was told that Mr Diaconu had physically and verbally abused her over a period of time and that she had left her home with her two younger children following an incident in the early hours the day before the killing.
"She’s not f**king cheating on you," he said he told Mr Diaconu. "I’m such a scumbag," Eric told the gardaí.
"He just flipped out. I didn’t mean to kill him, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I didn’t want to do this, I didn’t set out to ruin two lives."
When gardaí asked his brother Sean about the bloodstaining on his clothes and the mark near his eye, he made no comment.
Defence Counsel Michael Bowman said Eric Farrell had accepted responsibility for what he had done but had been working and is at low risk of reoffending.
He said he was estranged from his father, was 19 years old at the time of the offence, had a deep fear of the victim because of his abusive behaviour but had never meant to harm him.
He rang the emergency services, called the gardaí and co-operated with them, has taken responsibility for what he has done and has apologised to the victim's family.
Senior Counsel Brendan Grehan for Sean Farrell said much of the factors that apply to Eric also apply to Sean.
He said they are fraternal twins but behave and act more like two halves of the same person. He said there was an instinctive reaction in terms of protecting each other.
He said the probation service has effectively suggested this was a once-off situation and both have expressed their deep sorrow and regret.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said the twins had not arrived here by what he called "the habitual criminal route".
He remanded them in custody for sentencing on 15 June.
