KILLER expat Dave Mahon has lost his Supreme Court appeal over the length of his his seven-year manslaughter sentence.
The 46-year-old from Dublin had denied the murder of Dean Fitzpatrick, the older brother of missing teen Amy, on May 26 2013.
He claimed Dean died in an ‘attempted suicide’, by running onto his knife during a heated argument.
Mahon was found guilty of manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years in prison in June 2016.
But in the two-week trial, which finished on Thursday, Mahon was told that his sentence will still be upheld.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton said nothing in the case that required the revision of evidence.
“Absent an attack with deadly force and an action in self defence in extreme circumstances, there can never be an excuse for the production of a knife,” he said.
The judge said a ‘lenient’ view had been taken over Mahon brandishing a knife, in that, ‘a psychic assault and either an unfortunate spontaneous action or collision’ had occurred.