A man who believed that his wife had “cheated” on him in the past with his brother-in-law has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter for stabbing his relative to death in front of his wife.
Andrew ‘Andy’ Cash took the stand in his own defence at the Central Criminal Court last week, telling the jury he was “out of his head on tablets” and could not clearly remember the events of the day.
The trial heard that Cash was deemed unfit for interview by a doctor for six hours after he was arrested due to intoxication.
During the trial, the defendant agreed with prosecuting counsel that he gave father-of-nine John Cash “a good thumping” while he was on the ground but denied stabbing him, telling the court that John Cash had “ducked” out of the knife’s way. Andy Cash said that while John Cash was on the ground he heard a comment that made him “get a rush of anger” and that he “lost control”.
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Cash of Highrath, Clara, Co Kilkenny, had been accused of the murder of John Cash (40) at Hebron Road, Kilkenny City, on May 3rd, 2022.
Cash (30), a father of three, was also accused of assault causing harm to his own sister, Elizabeth Cash, who is John Cash’s wife, and of the production of a knife during a dispute or fight at about 12.30pm on the same date and at the same location.
Cash had pleaded not guilty to all three charges on November 2nd.
The jury heard evidence that John Cash went into cardiac arrest after the attack and a postmortem examination found he had sustained two stab wounds, with the cause of death recorded as an eight-millimetre-deep wound to the left of his chest, penetrating the heart.
At the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday the jury returned a 10-2 majority verdict on all charges in the case.
The jury found Andy Cash not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of John Cash and not guilty of both the production of an article, the knife, during the course of a dispute and of the assault causing harm charge.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon adjourned the case to December 1st for sentencing to allow for the preparation of victim impact statements and thanked the jury before excusing them from jury service for 10 years.
Mr Cash, who wore a blue shirt and jeans, did not react to the verdict.
Outside the court after the verdicts, the Cash family said John Cash was “a loving husband to his wife, Elizabeth, and an adoring father to his nine children and a doting ‘auld da’ to his four grandsons”.