Derek Boyd found guilty of murdering man at his Dublin home in 2024

Derek Boyd is now a double killer after being found guilty of the murder of Mark Carroll by a Central Criminal Court jury on Wednesday afternoon. Boyd was serving the suspended part of his sentence for the manslaughter of his sister when he fatally stabbed Carroll in the chest at his north Dublin home on June 9th, 2024.The jury of seven men and four women took eight hours and 51 minutes over three days to unanimously accept the State’s position that self-defence was not open to Boyd, who the prosecution argued chose to pick up a knife in “a determined, murderous attack”.In his closing address, Sean Guerin SC, prosecuting, said Carroll’s return to Boyd’s home moments after he initially left “wasn’t remotely threatening but entirely reasonable”, as he was going back to “sort out” an earlier row.Boyd fled the jurisdiction by boarding a ferry from Belfast to Scotland just hours after he killed Carroll.READ MOREIn a statement given to gardaí more than a year later, the defendant said he believed his life was at risk and that he acted in self-defence when he fatally stabbed Carroll. The defence said that Carroll had let himself back into Boyd’s home after being ordered to leave minutes beforehand.Boyd also said that “given what had happened with his sister”, he “did not want to harm anyone intentionally and certainly did not intend to end someone’s life”.He took the stand at the trial, telling the jury how he picked up a knife and “begged” Carroll – who he’d been drinking with that day – to leave his home. He claimed the deceased repeatedly threatened to kill him.Boyd (31) said Carroll grabbed him and, during a struggle, tried to take the knife. The defendant said he managed to “break free” and swung the knife at least three times but never intended to kill or seriously injure Carroll.“He told me ‘I’ll stick the knife up your hole’," Boyd said of the deceased.Boyd was serving the suspended portion of his sentence for the manslaughter of his sister, Sandra Boyd – by a “reckless or negligent discharge of a gun” – when he killed Carroll.A pathologist had told the trial that Carroll died from a stab wound to the chest, which measured around 10.5cm in depth and was unsurvivable. The expert witness also said Carroll had minor injuries consistent with being in a fight.Jurors had the option of returning one of three verdicts in relation to the murder charge against Boyd. These were guilty of murder, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, or not guilty.Boyd, with an address at Scribblestown Place, Finglas, Dublin 11, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Carroll (34) at his home on June 9th, 2024.Boyd had also pleaded not guilty to assaulting the deceased’s girlfriend Megan Rock on the same occasion, causing her harm.Boyd’s girlfriend Chantelle Harcourt (34) was accused of impeding her partner’s prosecution. It was the State’s case that she knew some or all of what had occurred that night and avoided telling the truth to gardaí in the hours after the fatal stabbing.The 11 jurors were unable to reach a verdict on either of these two counts.Judge Melanie Greally told the jury she realised what a difficult case this had been “for a whole variety of reasons”. She thanked them for their service and their patience through the many delays and interruptions during the trial. She exempted them from jury service for the next five years.The judge will hand down the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment to Boyd on July 28. She remanded the defendant in custody until that date.Greally also listed the charge against Boyd, of assault causing harm, for mention on July 28.She remanded Harcourt on continuing bail on the same terms and conditions until the next list to fix dates at the Central Criminal Court on July 30th.