A mother who held her son while he lay dying after his partner's ex-husband stabbed him has told the Central Criminal Court she is "haunted" by his death and by his last words: "He stabbed me, ma. He stabbed me."
Catherine Martin said the murder of her son, Eoin Boylan, 32, has "shattered my heart", leaving her struggling every day with the "heavy weight of despair".
She said: "Simple tasks like peeling potatoes remind me I will never make dinner for him again. Setting the table, I'm reminded there is no place to set for Eoin. He is not there to accompany me to the shops and will never again call a taxi for me and then check that I got home all right. Every time I put the key in the front door I am reminded I will not hear him say, "how are you ma? How's your day?"
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Ms Martin's statement was read out by her brother Michael Martin today at a sentencing hearing for Nassar Ahmed, 41, who was convicted last month by a unanimous jury verdict of the murder of Mr Boylan at Gordon Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis, Co Clare on April 14, 2020.
Ahmed, of The Mews, Kilrush Road, Ennis, denied the murder and claimed he was acting in self-defence. CCTV footage showed him lunging towards Mr Boylan with a knife, stabbing him three times, as the deceased tried to back away. The jury took just two hours to convict.
The prosecution described the murder as a "sneak attack" after Ahmed had invited Mr Boylan for a fist fight while concealing a knife in his pocket.
Following today's hearing Ms Justice Eileen Creedon sentenced Ahmed to the mandatory term for murder of life imprisonment.
In separate statements Mr Boylan's sisters Claire and Aoife described their brother as a father figure to their children and as a kind, generous, funny and loving man who was in turn loved by his family.
His partner at the time of his death, Susan O'Doherty, said he was "never in a bad mood, he was always jolly and laughing and made sure everyone around him was happy."
She said she finds it difficult to put into words the impact his death has had on her and her children.
In a statement released to the media, Mr Boylan's family said that they continue to "deeply mourn his loss".
They added: "Today brings closure to a difficult process that sees justice being done... It will not bring Eoin back but at least we can now get on with the rest of our lives, preparing ourselves for a lesser life to be lived without him."
Detective Sergeant Ciaran Crowley told Lorcan Staines SC, for the prosecution, that Ahmed came from Sudan to Ireland in the 2000s and settled in Ennis. He met Susan O'Doherty and they married in 2007 and had three children. By November 2018 the marriage had broken down and they were no longer living together. She started seeing Mr Boylan, an old school friend, in 2019 and he moved into her house.
It was during the first coronavirus lock-down that Ahmed arranged to visit but an argument broke out when Ms O'Doherty told him he was not allowed to enter the house due to the risk of spreading the virus. There was "shouting and arguing", Det Sgt Crowley said, and Mr Boylan went outside to remonstrate with Ahmed. There was a fight and Ahmed used a knife to stab Mr Boylan three times. He bled to death at the scene.
Ahmed has six previous convictions, one for possession of drugs and five for road traffic matters, the detective said.
Trial
The deceased's mother Catherine Martin gave evidence during the trial, telling Mr Staines that the accused did not look "very happy" when he arrived outside the house on the day of the stabbing. “Although he didn't show it, I think he was angry,” Mrs Martin said.
She recalled that Ahmed started to call his former partner names. “He called her a whore,” she said.
The witness then described how her son, who was in the kitchen, came out the front door when he heard Nassar shouting. She said she watched as Ahmed “stood on his tippy-toes and moved very quickly, then stood on one leg and lunged towards my son”.
“I let out a roar for him [Ahmed] to stop,” Ms Martin said. “I put my arm under him to support him [Mr Boylan], to bring him back to the house. Susan [O’Doherty, Ahmed’s former partner] was on the other side, and roaring at Nassar, saying ‘what have you done?’.”
Self-defence
Before the jury went out to consider their verdict, Ms Justice Creedon told the seven men and five women that a person has the right to defend themselves if struck but they do not have the right to avenge themselves.
She said the jury must first decide if the accused believed it was necessary to use force to defend himself. If Ahmed was the aggressor, she said, then self defence would not arise and he would be guilty of murder.
If the jury concluded that he used no more force than he believed was necessary to defend himself, but used more force than was reasonably necessary, then the correct verdict would have been not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Closing
Closing the prosecution case, Mr Staines told the jury that the issue of self-defence does not arise because Ahmed had carried out an "intentional, deliberate and repeated stabbing". He said that each of the three stabbings was performed when Mr Boylan was in manifest retreat.
He said Ahmed had lied in his statement to gardai, pretending that he acted in self defence, that he didn't know what weapon he had used or where he had discarded it. Mr Staines described the lies as "borderline laughable".
"The only person striking is Nassar Ahmed and on each and every occasion Mr Boylan is in retreat and getting away from the situation and that is why I say that self-defence isn't in the case," he said.
What happened at Gordon Drive, Mr Staines said, was a sneak attack on Mr Boylan. "We know Mr Ahmed had a knife in his pocket and Mr Boylan didn't know he had a knife," he said.
Mr Staines told the jury that the accused had executed the attack on Mr Boylan with skill and precision and that two of the three wounds to the deceased were very precise.
He noted that Ahmed was bouncing on his toes like an "Olympic fencer", like he knew what he was doing. He had struck the deceased three times in the space of five seconds before walking away calmly like nothing had happened, counsel said.
Addressing the jury, defence counsel Mr Bowman called it an emotionally charged case and said that his client accepted that he is guilty of taking Mr Boylan's life.
He said both men had gone "head to head", pushing was taking place and postures were aggressive.
Mr Bowman said Ahmed conceded that his actions were morally culpable and that his error of judgment was taking a life, which he [Mr Bowman] didn't seek to justify.
He said the accused man's actions were from the legitimate fear he felt at the time. "It was his subjective view which justified his use of force," he said.
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