Judge notes "viciousness” of stabbing, as he sentences Longford man

A 32 year-old Longford man has received 8 years and 6 months for the savage stabbing of his lifelong former best friend. 

John Keenan of 37 Palace Crescent received the sentence at a recent sitting of Longford Circuit Court.

The court heard how on October 10, 2024, John Keenan stabbed Patrick Stokes in the abdomen just yards from the school where Patrick and his wife Carmel had, only moments earlier, dropped off their children. There was also a visible Garda presence outside the school at the time. 

In court, Detective Garda Gerald Mullarkey read out a letter from Mr Stokes’s wife, Carmel, in which she recounted how John Keenan's 3 co-accused had cheered as he “savagely attacked” her husband, leaving him in his own blood.

Her letter, which can be read in full here, stated that one of the hardest things Patrick had to deal with was that “the people who attacked him were once his best friends” so much so that he went through a denial stage about it. 

She recalled how his attackers “did not hand themselves in for a number of days, not before having family christenings, drinking and partying, posting on social media, sending messages for me to keep my mouth shut, and Patrick, if he survived.”

John Keenan was represented in court by senior counsel Michael O’Higgins who put it to Detective Garda Mullarkey that this dispute was “not a traveller feud situation” as the two men had been “best friends for many years since childhood” and that the two families “were very close and would've regularly holidayed abroad together.” 

Mr O’Higgins SC added, “there was a one-off incident which soured relations where I think in the first instance Mr Keenan had got hit on the head by (a member of another family) and that had led to a series of events which had culminated in the charges before the court.” 

Mr O’Higgins SC maintained however that this was “not a Traveller feud situation.”

When Mr Keenan took to the stand, Mr O’Higgins raised the point that comments being made in WhatsApp groups were what led to relations becoming agitated between the families, to which Mr Keenan agreed, adding, “it escalated very quickly for nothing. A few heated words led to this.”

When asked if he had anything to say to Patrick and Carmel Stokes, Mr Keenan replied, “I'm really sorry for what I did. I know sorry mightn’t help what happened but all I can do is say sorry and if I could take it back, I would. I have to live every day thinking about what I did and the friendship we had that can never be replaced.”

When asked by Mr O’Higgins if this was something “a line has been drawn under or is it stored up as resentment to resurface down the line”, Mr Keenan replied “I know I'm going to be punished today and there's no retaliation, no nothing, I’m not feuding with Patrick and I hope we can leave this behind us”

Addressing the court, Mr O’Higgins handed in a letter from the Traveller Mediation Service, and assured Judge Connolly that Mr Keenan was “willing to enter mediation and conflict coaching training” and that his family members had “met with mediators from the Traveller Mediation Service to explore options for preventing further conflict.”

In delivering his verdict, Judge Connolly referenced the CCTV footage of the incident, noting that Mr Keenan and his 3 co-accused had emerged from their vehicles, running down the road “like marauders after the Stokes family.”

He pointed out that Patrick Stokes “was a person who was supposed to be very close to him (John) and of whom he had great regard as a lifelong friend and yet he proceeded to stab him, which to me demonstrates the viciousness of the situation.”

Taking various factors into consideration, Judge Connolly imposed a sentence of 8 years and 6 months, with 18 months suspended for 3 years.

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