‘Denied dignity even in death' – Mum's pain after killer beat son to death & left body in carpet underlay in dog pen
A 'REMORSELESS' killer beat his friend to death with a hammer and left him wrapped in carpet underlay in a dog pen in his back garden, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
When
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Padraig Delaney was sentenced to life in prison
Credit: Tom Tuite
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Shane Knott's family told of their heartache
Credit: TOM TUITE
A jury in Tullamore found Delaney, 44, guilty of murder earlier this year, rejecting his claim that he acted in self-defence.
Delaney, of The Lane, Eustace Demesne, Naas, Co
The trial heard that Delaney's brother, Tadhg Delaney, was murdered in
Nobody has been charged with his murder, and the investigation is ongoing.
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Delaney told gardai that he believed the Kinahan
Sentencing Delaney, 44, to life imprisonment today, Mr Justice Paul Burns described Delaney's claims that he acted in self-defence as a 'self-serving fabrication' which was rightly rejected by the jury.
In a victim impact statement, the deceased's mother, Catherine Fitzsimons, said her son was subjected to 'deliberate and devastating violence at the hands of a man he once called his friend'.
She said Delaney has offered no apology or sign of remorse and put the family through the pain of a trial in which they had to relive her son's final hours 'moment by moment'.
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Mr Knott, she said, was 'far from perfect', but he was deeply loved and a 'free spirit' who dreamed of starting his life over in
The family attended his cremation on what should have been his 37th birthday.
Inspector Paul O'Reilly told prosecution counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC that Mr Knott lived a 'transient life' and on April 3, 2024 had been detained at Naas
He received station bail and went to Delaney's house, where he would stay occasionally.
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Four days later, Mr Knott's mother reported her son missing.
On April 14, Delaney told his father that there was a body in his back garden.
He claimed he had defended himself after Mr Knott attacked him with a pair of scissors.
Delaney's father alerted gardai, and they found Mr Knott's body in the back garden in a dog pen wrapped in carpet underlay.
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