A Meath man who killed a friend of his in Navan in a row over the breeding of Chihuahuas has been jailed for nine years.
Wayne Cluskey of Mooretown in Ratoath was tried for Christopher NevinÂ’s murder but convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Wayne Cluskey didnÂ’t deliver the blows that killed Christopher Nevin outside a house in Navan in November 2015.
His friend Josh Turner did and is serving a life sentence for murder.
Wayne claimed he was acting in self defence when he struck Mr. Nevin twice with a hatchet heÂ’d wrestled away from him.
The jury agreed and acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter because of the excessive force used.
When Mr. Justice Patrick McCarthy noted that Wayne had offered an apology, ChristopherÂ’s wife Lisa shouted that it wouldnÂ’t be accepted.
When the verdicts were handed down last month, she had to be restrained after throwing a plastic water bottle towards the dock.
She was once again escorted out of the court room this afternoon when the sentence was handed down:
“I’ll never see his face again,” she screamed, “and you’ll be out in nine years”
Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney reports:
