Frank Greaney reports...
The jurors in Dean Kerrie's murder trial have asked for a look at two knives seized from his home as part of the Garda investigation.
Mr 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 in 2018.
At the outset of the trial, the jurors heard they may have to consider the issue of self-defence.
Before retiring to consider the evidence yesterday, they were told that they had three verdicts open to them.
They could either acquit Dean Kerrie of Jack Power’s murder, find him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, or convict him of murder.
When he took the stand last week, the now 20yo told the court what happened in his home that night was an accident. He said he didn’t mean it.
The prosecution accused him of lying and of trying to hide the knife. He denied that was the case.
This morning, the jurors asked for the offences of murder and manslaughter to be explained to them and they also requested the knives seized as part of the investigation be made available to them.
They’ve now gone home for the night and are due back tomorrow. They’ve been deliberating for a total of just over 5hrs at this stage.
