A young man has been found guilty of the murder of 24-year-old Conor Quinn, who died after he sustained a stab wound to the chest in Mallow, Co Cork in 2018.
Jurors at the trial of Tyler ‘Tiggy’ Jackson (26) took just under seven hours to return a 10-2 verdict at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Thursday afternoon.
Jackson, formerly of Ballydaheen West, Mallow, Co Cork, was found guilty by majority verdict of the murder of Mr Quinn, who was from Galway and who lived in Tipperary town.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon thanked the jurors for their service and excused them from further jury service for a period of five years. The jurors had been given the option of finding Jackson guilty or not guilty of murder or not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Jackson was remanded in custody for sentencing at 2pm next Tuesday. The case was adjourned to allow the family to prepare victim impact statements.
There is a mandatory life sentence when a person is found guilty of murder.
Horse fair
The trial had heard that Mr Quinn attended the Cahirmee Horse Fair in Buttevant, Co Cork with his cousins on the day the fatal stabbing occurred. His girlfriend Stephanie was heavily pregnant at the time of his death.
In an outline of the case to the jury at the opening of the trial, Ray Boland SC, prosecuting, said members of the group left the fair in Buttevant on the evening of July 12th, 2018, and decided to stop off for food in Mallow.
Mr Boland said the group parked on Main Street in the town that evening.
“Conor Quinn spotted Tyler Jackson. Conor Quinn got out of his car and confronted Tyler Jackson – also known by his nickname ‘Tiggy’. They had some knowledge of each other in advance. There was some animosity between them. They were not friendly.”
He said the first exchange between Jackson and Mr Quinn occurred at 7.59pm. Mr Boland said it was the prosecution case that a second interaction occurred between the two men at 8.38pm.
“At 8.38pm the deceased and his party were stopped in traffic on Bridge Street. The deceased was in the front [passenger] seat of the car. Conor Quinn spotted Tyler Jackson across the road.
“He left the car to confront Tyler Jackson. It was a physical confrontation — a scuffle between them.
“Tyler Jackson struck Conor Quinn once in the chest and ran away. The prosecution contention is that the strike was with a knife.
“It was a stab wound and that is the wound from which he died. Conor Quinn went back to his companions and said to his cousins, ‘He is after stabbing me’.
“By coincidence, there was an ambulance also stopped in traffic. They went to the ambulance. He (Conor) collapsed, never regained consciousness and died.”
Mr Boland said Conor Quinn was taken to Cork University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Stabbing
The trial also heard evidence from Samantha Quinn, who is a cousin of the deceased. She said Jackson stabbed her cousin in the chest.
“Then Conor fell down to the ground. He did not fully fall down. It was like someone who was tripping. He fell forwards. He had sunglasses on his head – they fell on the ground.
“There was an ambulance coming up the street. We all got out of the car. Conor ran towards the ambulance and tried to open the door. He was still holding his chest. He leaned against the wall. Then he slowly fell to the ground.”
Defence barrister Brian McInerney SC had claimed that Mr Jackson didn’t have a knife on his person on the day of the stabbing. The jury overwhelmingly rejected a suggestion by the defence that Mr Quinn had inadvertently stabbed himself after he collided with Mr Jackson during an altercation between the two men.
Mr Boland said there was a witness who saw Mr Jackson leaving the scene after the fatal stabbing. The witness said that he was carrying a kitchen knife.
State pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told the jury that Mr Quinn died of haemorrhage, shock and partial lung collapse after he sustained a single stab wound to the chest. She said the stab wound measured 8-12cm in depth, penetrated the heart and fractured a rib.
She said Mr Quinn suffered “massive blood loss” in the incident.
The defence put it to Dr Bolster that Mr Quinn could have stabbed himself after he collided with Mr Jackson. Dr Bolster said it would be “very unlikely” for such an event to occur because a stabbing of this nature required a “moderate degree of force”.
