A 22-year-old man has received the mandatory sentence of life in prison for murdering his one-time friend by stabbing him in the neck, with the victim’s heartbroken parents saying they have been left with “a void that will never be filled”.
“He never thought his days were numbered by someone who would attack him from behind,” said Inga and Victor Mamaliga of their son Marius (19), in an emotional victim impact statement delivered to the Central Criminal Court on Monday during the sentencing of Brandon Gavin.
Gavin, of Brookdale Road, Rivervalley, Swords, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Mamaliga at Forest Court, Swords, on the evening of February 23rd 2023, with the jury in his trial 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. The jury, however, agreed with the prosecution case that Gavin's claim he had acted in his own defence was "self-serving nonsense".
Evidence was heard that Gavin had been messaging women on Tinder just minutes before he stabbed Mr Mamaliga and that on the day before the attack, the defendant's phone had searched for "prison sentence for murder in Ireland".
The jury heard that Mr Mamaliga was sitting in the driver’s seat of his car with two friends, when Gavin got into the rear passenger side, reached across into the front seat, and stabbed him once in the neck with a knife before fleeing the scene.
Despite receiving assistance at the scene from passersby, including an off-duty paramedic, Mr Mamaliga was brought to hospital in a critical condition and died three days later, on February 26th.
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.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court in November deliberated for close to five hours before returning their unanimous verdict against Gavin.
No remorse
In a victim impact statement, delivered to the sentencing court on Monday on behalf of Inga and Victor Mamaliga by John D. O’Keefe, patron of Advocates for Victims of Homicide, the grieving pair said that the death of a child can "bring parents to their knees", as they deal with "unbearable pain that will stay with them until the end of their days".
“Nothing will be able to fill the void in the hearts of the parents who have lost a child,” they said, describing their son as a young man who had hopes and dreams, who worked and studied and “never thought his days were numbered by someone who would attack him from behind”.
They said that it had been unbearable for them to be present in the courtroom, where they had to listen to how their child was killed and to look at the defendant, who they said had shown no remorse for what he did.
They said that since the death of their son, “the morning sun doesn’t shine, and even food doesn’t taste the same”, adding that everywhere they go and every step they take, they always think of Marius, who he was and who he would have become.
“Instead of kissing and hugging our child, we go to the cemetery to lay flowers at his grave,” they said, outlining how Marius’ murder had brought their entire family “into darkness”.
“We lost a part of our souls and hearts and have been left with a void that will never be filled,” they said, going on to tell the court that they needed psychological counselling and medical treatment for anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.
“He is our hero, and we will be proud of him until the end of our lives,” they said, encouraging others to “love your children, give them your time, so that later you can get to enjoy the people they have become”.
The victim impact statement concluded with a reading of the W.H. Auden poem, Funeral Blues.
In a short letter to the court written by Gavin and delivered by his barrister, Dean Kelly SC, the defendant said that he knew what he had done has ruined many lives, and he asked for Mr and Mrs Mamaliga’s forgiveness for the pain and grief he has caused them.
Thanking the Mamaliga family for their victim impact statement and extending her deepest sympathy to them for the loss of their son, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said she must impose the mandatory sentence of life in prison on Gavin.
