A father-of-three who believed that his wife had cheated on him in the past with his brother-in-law has been jailed for 10 years for stabbing his relative to death in front of the victim's own wife in broad daylight.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon on Monday passed sentence on Andrew ‘Andy’ Cash who was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of John Cash (40) at Hebron Road, Kilkenny City, on May 3rd, 2022.
Speaking outside court after the sentencing, victim John Cash's eldest sister Brigid said the family were “devastated” by what happened to their brother.
She said they were unhappy with the verdict of manslaughter, telling reporters: “My brother got no justice this morning.”
Ms Justice Creedon said Andrew Cash (30), of Highrath, Clara, Co Kilkenny, had attacked his brother-in-law John Cash “in broad daylight” on a busy street in front of his wife and had then tried to conceal the knife by burying it in rubble.
She said Cash had continued to shout threats and abuse at the deceased as he was lying on the ground.
A previous sentencing hearing was told that the defendant had been drinking and taking tablets when he "snapped" and stabbed his brother-in-law during a row.
Gardaí who attended the scene noted that the defendant told John Cash, "You got what you deserved." After he was arrested and placed in a Garda car, Cash said: "He had it coming to him for twelve years."
Passing sentence on Monday, Ms Justice Creedon said Andrew Cash’s sister Elizabeth was married to John Cash, and they had seven children together.
She said apart from being members of the same family, there was evidence of “some history” between the two men because Andrew Cash believed the deceased had been intimate with his wife, “although the veracity of that was not established”, she said.
On the day of the killing, Andy Cash had an argument with his wife about what he believed had happened some 10 or 12 years earlier, she said.
Andrew Cash encountered John Cash and his wife in Kilkenny City later that day, got out of his car and was seen “gesticulating and shouting” towards them, the judge said.
She said the defendant then got back into his car and drove from there to the Hebron Road where the final confrontation took place.
The judge said the evidence showed Andrew Cash armed himself with a knife, had assaulted the deceased before any provocative remarks were made and had carried out the attack in “broad daylight” on a busy street before continuing to shout threats and abuse at the deceased as he was lying on the ground.
She said the victim impact statements in the case showed it was clear that the deceased was deeply loved by his wife and children and siblings, and his death has left “an enormous gap” in all their lives.
The judge said the particulars of the offence it in the high culpability range, attracting a sentence of ten to 15 years. She said an appropriate headline sentence in this case was one of 14 years.
Taking mitigation into account, including Cash’s apology, his lack of previous violent offending and his offer of a plea to manslaughter at the start of the trial, Ms Justice Creedon said she would impose a term of imprisonment of 11 years with the final year suspended on condition that he engages with the probation services. She backdated this to May 5th, 2022, when Cash first went into custody.
Andrew Cash (30) had also been accused of assault causing harm to Elizabeth Cash and of the production of a knife during the course of a dispute or fight at around 12.30pm on the same date and at the same location.
A Central Criminal Court jury last November returned a 10-2 majority verdict on all charges in the case, finding Cash not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of John Cash and not guilty of both the production of the knife during the course of a dispute and of the assault causing harm charge.
Giving evidence at his own trial, Andrew Cash said he had a knife in his car that he would use to fix the car radio. He said he took the knife with him because he “wanted to confront” John Cash.
CCTV from the scene showed John Cash backing away from the defendant before falling over and being struck repeatedly by Andrew Cash.
John Cash got up from that assault and made his way across the road where the final assault took place while Elizabeth tried to intervene to protect her husband.
In evidence, Andrew Cash, said that the deceased told him he would come to his house later, which the defendant took to be a threat that he would come to his house for a row. He said he "snapped" after hearing this and stabbed the deceased.
During the trial, Andrew Cash's lawyers told the jury that if the accused was so provoked by the alleged threat made by John Cash that he suffered a sudden and total loss of self-control, then he should be found guilty of manslaughter and not murder.
A pathologist told the trial that John Cash had suffered two stab wounds. The fatal wound was to the chest and went to a depth of eight centimetres and penetrated the heart.
There was evidence that Andy Cash encountered John Cash in Kilkenny City later that day, got out of his car and made obscene gestures while shouting towards his brother-in-law.
In a victim impact statement at a previous sentencing hearing last December, John Cash’s sister Brigid said her brother loved animals, collected stray dogs and would never pass a homeless person without giving them food or money.
She described him as a "gentle giant with a big heart". Margaret Cash described her brother as a "rock" and a father figure to her two children.
Speaking outside court on Monday, Brigid said: “We just love him so much and we go through the pain and hurt every day of losing him. Every day we are expecting John to walk back in the door in his aul jolly laughy way. We will never see that again…If there’s a heaven up there, we will meet again but for now we will live with the pain for the rest of our lives.”
Reporting by Fiona Magennis
