A TEENAGER WHO stabbed a man to death on a sunny afternoon in front of shoppers and children using a knife he had bought for self-protection has been jailed for 13 years.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the teen, who can’t be named because he was a minor when he first came before the courts, murdered Aaron Keating (43) as an “angry aggressive youth acting in a drug rage”. Although he has pleaded guilty to murder, the youth is not subject to a mandatory life sentence due to his age at the time of the offence.

Mr Justice McDermott said he had to take into account the defendant’s age, lack of maturity and the need to rehabilitate young offenders. Therefore he sentenced the defendant to 15 years with the final two years suspended for two years on a number of conditions.

The now 19-year-old was one month short of his 18th birthday when he murdered Mr Keating on June 13, 2023 at Main Street, Ongar, Dublin 15.

Mr Justice McDermott said it had been a sunny Tuesday afternoon when the defendant and a group of youths were hanging around Main St smoking cannabis. Mr Keating, who had mental health difficulties all his life, was a frequent visitor to the area and was known to all the youths.

CCTV footage showed an altercation between Mr Keating and the defendant which prompted the youth to run to a nearby stairwell where he had stashed a knife for self-protection.

He returned within 90 seconds of the first altercation and pursued Mr Keating across the road despite one of his friends telling him to stop.

The defendant attempted to stab Mr Keating but missed before he “made another lunge”, the judge said, causing the fatal wound to the abdomen. A pathologist found the cause of death to be haemorrhage and shock due to the single stab wound.

Mr Justice McDermott noted that the defendant attacked his victim openly, in a public place, presenting a “terrifying spectacle” to shoppers, including women and children.

The defendant fled the scene, disposed of the knife and made no attempt to assist the dying man, the judge said. Mr Keating was loved by his family, the judge said, and is deeply missed. His life was “needlessly and violently taken”, he said.

The judge said that the defendant had done well in primary school but by the age of 12, he began regularly using drugs. He had seen numerous doctors and therapists over the years but continued to abuse drugs.

He said drug use had “a dominating role” in the murder and in causing a disintegration in the youth’s education. Drug rehabilitation, he said, will be a factor in efforts to prevent the teenager reoffending. The defendant is currently considered at a high risk of reoffending if he were returned to a community setting within 12 months.

Mr Justice McDermott set a headline sentence of 25 years but reduced that to 21 to account for the defendant’s age. He further reduced the sentence to 15 years after considering mitigating factors including the teenager’s guilty plea and his “early and consistent expression of remorse, which appears to be genuine and comprehensive”.

When sentencing children, the Supreme Court has found that it is preferable to suspend part of the sentence to encourage rehabilitation. Mr Justice McDermott suspended the final two years on condition that the defendant keep the peace for two years after release, address his addiction needs with the probation services and accept any treatment recommended. He must also participate in a drug rehabilitation programme and any mental health services recommended by the probation services.

At a sentencing hearing last week, 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.

At about 6pm, “something triggered a reaction” in Mr Keating, who pushed the youth up against a window.

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. 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.

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 was egging me on,” he said. “I don’t know what he said but he triggered me.”

The defendant entered his plea of guilty to murder following a Supreme Court ruling last year that, despite now reaching adulthood, he will not face a mandatory life sentence because he was a child when he committed the offence.

The teen previously sought to halt the proceedings against him because, having aged out while awaiting trial, he faced a mandatory life sentence if convicted of murder.

However, following a recent Supreme Court ruling, judges now have discretion when sentencing a person who committed murder while a child, regardless of what age they are when they come before the courts.