‘I never meant for him to die’: murder accused
A 20-YEAR-OLD man said he “never meant for him to die” after being charged with the murder of a man following an altercation in the wake of a Halloween party.
Calvin Cullen, of Greenhills, Athy, Co Kildare, was remanded in custody by Judge Desmond Zaidan at a special sitting of Naas District Court after arriving on crutches.
He is charged with murdering David Boland in Athy town centre early last Thursday morning.
It is alleged that the victim was stabbed three times and later died from his wounds at Portlaoise Hospital.
Detective Garda Niall Bambrick told the court that after being charged, Mr Cullen told gardaí: “I never meant for him to die. I’m sorry for his family. I hope they believe I didn’t mean that to happen.”
When asked about the alleged details of the incident, gardaí told Judge Zaidan there had been a number of people on the street at the time.
They said Mr Boland had been driving when he stopped and parked his car before becoming involved in an altercation with the defendant.
“He was stabbed three times and the wounds were fatal,” said Det Gda Bambrick.
Judge Zaidan granted Mr Cullen free legal aid but held off on a request for a psychi- atric evaluation. He said he would neither accede nor refuse the application but he needed to be provided with a basis for one.
Mr Cullen was remanded in custody to Naas District Court on Thursday.
Mr Boland was from Nurney, Co Kildare. Local Fianna Fáil councillor Martin Miley, who knew Mr Boland, said: “He had an engineering business. He worked extremely hard to build up his business.”