Chaotic scenes as man is convicted of murder of Polish victim
There was uproar at the Central Criminal Court after a 40-year-old Co Clare man was convicted of murdering Piotr Nowakowski in Ennis last year.
Supporters of the accused man Michael Maughan of Stone Court, Ennis, shouted abuse at the jury and overturned a bench in the court room after the verdict.
It took the jury under two and a half hours to unanimously convict Michael Maughan of the murder of Piotr Nowakowski in July last year.
Maughan had admitted manslaughter. The jury heard he stabbed the Polish man twice after they'd spent the day and night drinking together.
In the victim impact statement relatives of Nowakowski said his loss is like “a big sadness taking our soul”.
Maughan's lawyers offered his apologies and said he really regrets what he has done.
Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed the mandatory life sentence for murder and the court rose.
Sentencing was followed pandemonium as some of Michael Maughan's supporters overturned a bench and hurled verbal abuse at the jury shouting, “Look what you've done. You've ruined our lives.”
Those behind the disturbance were quickly appeased by gardaí.
