The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
A judge has told the jury in the trial of an Ennis man accused of murder, that alcohol is not a defence to criminal responsibility. The jury is expected to begin its deliberations on this Friday in the case of Michael Maughan (40) of Stone Court, Ennis, who has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Piotr Nowakowski (31) at Sandfield Mews, Ennis on July 23, 2013. Last week, the Central Criminal Court was told the manslaughter plea was not acceptable to the prosecution and a jury was sworn in for the week-long murder trial. Mr Nowakowski was stabbed twice and died in an ambulance on the way to Shannon Airport where he was to be airlifted to hospital in Cork. The court heard that the accused and his brother had been drinking with the deceased and two other men in an apartment in the Sandfield complex earlier that day and returned there later that night. …
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