A 22-year-old man who was messaging women on Tinder just minutes before he stabbed his one-time friend in the neck has been found guilty of murder, with the jury agreeing with the prosecution case that his claims of self-defence were "self-serving nonsense".
The jury, who also heard that on the day before the stabbing Brandon Gavin's phone had searched for "prison sentence for murder in Ireland", rejected the defence case that he had lashed out in fear and was not a murderer.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court deliberated for close to five hours before returning their unanimous verdict on Wednesday against Gavin, who was found guilty of the murder of 19-year-old Marius Mamaliga at Forest Court, Swords, on the evening of February 23rd, 2023.
Gavin, of Brookdale Road, Rivervalley, Swords, had pleaded not guilty, with the jury hearing that he told gardaí that Mr Mamaliga “came at” him so he defended himself, claiming that he feared for his life as he owed a drug debt of €2,500.
The trial heard witness evidence that Mr Mamaliga had sold drugs in the past and that Gavin owed him money.
At the opening of the trial, counsel for the DPP, Ronan Kennedy SC said that the charge of murder arose from the fatal stabbing of the deceased on February 23rd, with Mr Mamaliga dying from his injuries on February 26th.
It was the prosecution’s case that Gavin went to meet his one-time friend armed with a knife and that he got into the backseat of Mr Mamaliga's car, where he suddenly and without warning stabbed him in the neck with the intention of killing him or causing him serious injury.
Mr Kennedy said the entire incident lasted approximately 14 seconds. He told the jury that Gavin dropped his mobile phone and two HSE appointment cards in his name in the rear footwell of the car, which were recovered by gardaí during a technical examination of the vehicle.
The jury also heard evidence that the deceased's blood was on a penknife found by gardaí in a park close to where the incident occurred, while the handle of the knife contained DNA matching that of Gavin.
State pathologist Dr SallyAnn Collis told the jury that, despite medical intervention at the scene of the stabbing, Mr Mamaliga suffered hypoxic brain injury which was caused by the deprivation of oxygen to the brain due to blood loss.
She told the jury that Mr Mamaliga sustained arterial bleeding to the left common carotid artery, which was almost transected, as well as damage to his left jugular vein and damage to his upper windpipe.
Garda David Durnin gave evidence to Mr Kennedy that on February 23rd, Gavin and his father came to Swords Garda station, where the defendant's father informed him that his son had been involved in an incident earlier and wished to hand himself in.
Garda Durnin said that the defendant told him he had stabbed Mr Mamaliga in self-defence because he was in fear for his life as he owed money for drugs. The garda said that Brandon Gavin told him that he owed €2,500 for “drugs/weed”, adding that he also told the gardaí that he was in a panic after stabbing Mr Mamaliga and had thrown the knife away, but did not state where.
Detective Garda Conor Tumbleton gave evidence to Mr Kennedy that when he cautioned the defendant, Gavin said: “He came at me. I defended myself. I stabbed him.”
The defendant's father Eddie Gavin gave evidence during the trial of a phone call with his son, who had told him: "Dad, I f**ked up." He said that Brandon told him that he had "stabbed this guy" but didn't give any specifics.
Mr Gavin broke down as he told the jury: "He said, "Dad, Can I have a hug?" and I said, of course you can, so I hugged him." Mr Gavin told defence counsel that Brandon was trembling, hysterical and crying. "He was a mess," Eddie Gavin said.
The accused's mother, Jacqueline Gavin, told the trial that Brandon had mental health problems for many years and had self-harmed and attempted suicide on a number of occasions. She said the family "tried everything", including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Pieta House, private counselling and various hospitals in Dublin.
Witness David Octavian described to the jury the seconds-long window during which a "calm and collected" assailant got into the car he was sitting in, "slowly took out a knife" and stabbed his friend in the neck before fleeing.
Asked if he knew Gavin, the witness said: “Yes, we used to hang around together as a group when we were younger. We used to be friends.”
The jury also heard evidence from Roman Lakhman, who said that on the night in question, he got in the front passenger side of the car and David Octavian got in the back. He said the trio drove to Brookdale, where someone got into the car.
Mr Lakhman said seconds later, the man “stabbed him [Mr Mamaliga] but we thought he just got a dig to the face and that’s when we hopped out and gave him a little chase but then Marius hopped out holding his neck.”
Asked by Mr Kennedy if he knew of anything Mr Mamaliga was doing to make money, Mr Lakhman said: “He was selling fast gas [laughing gas] but that’s about it.”
During cross-examination, Mr Lakhman denied suggestions by Dean Kelly SC, defending, that Mr Mamaliga was a cocaine dealer who had a “drugs business” on the night he was fatally stabbed.
Mr Kelly asked the witness what else Mr Mamaliga was doing to make money, to which Mr Lakhman replied: “selling weed from time to time”.
However, the jury were shown video footage taken from a phone, where Mr Mamaliga can be seen placing cocaine into bags.
Further evidence was given by Detective Garda Kevin Farrell, who said that he retrieved data from a phone belonging to Gavin that was found inside Mr Mamaliga's car following his death.
Det Gda Farrell said that on February 22nd, 2023, at 6.31pm, a little over 24 hours before the incident with Mr Mamaliga, the phone was used to search for "prison sentence for murder in Ireland".
Det Gda Farrell also told the court that the user of the phone had been engaging with the dating app Tinder on the day of the stabbing.
At 6.45pm a contact was created with a woman by swiping right and Gavin's phone sent a message saying: "Hey, how are you?", the witness said. The jury has previously seen CCTV footage showing the interaction between the accused and Mr Mamaliga less than 20 minutes later, at shortly after 7.03pm.
Under cross-examination, Det Gda Farrell agreed with Mr Kelly that messages on Mr Mamaliga's phone showed that he was involved in the sale and supply of drugs, including cocaine and MDMA.
Exchanges between Gavin and Mr Mamaliga appear to show that the defendant lied to the deceased about some drugs that had gone missing. In one message, Gavin falsely told Mr Mamaliga that the drugs were gone because gardaí had raided his house, Det Gda Farrell said.
Three days before he died, Mr Mamaliga sent Gavin a message saying: "You get that sorted? Boys looking for that money on Thursday." Mr Mamaliga sent a message the following day saying: "There be people at your door tomorrow, I recommend you get back to me."
In his closing speech, Mr Kennedy said there was clear, unambiguous evidence that the stabbing was "planned and premeditated" and that to suggest Gavin was acting in self-defence was "self-serving nonsense".
However, Mr Kelly asked the jury to consider whether the defendant’s actions were those of a person who was “spiralling out of control” and the possibility that when Gavin lashed out in the car, he lashed out in fear, anger and self-preservation.
Before the jury began their deliberations, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon told them there were three verdicts open to them in relation to the murder charge against the defendant: guilty of murder, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty.
After the jury of seven men and five women returned their verdict, Ms Justice Creedon thanked them for their time and attention during the trial, excusing them from jury service for the next seven years.
The matter was adjourned to December 2nd for victim impact statements and sentencing, with Gavin remanded in custody.
