A 70-year-old man has been found not guilty of murdering his partner of 36 years at the home they shared in Dublin in May 2016.
Desmond Duffy of Somerville Park in Rathmines admitted strangling Desmond Sullivan but claimed he was acting in self-defence.
From the stand last week, Desmond Duffy told the jurors he suffered years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Desmond Sullivan.
He said he covered it up and denied it before adding that while they had their problems, Dessie also had his “good side”.
On the night in question, the court heard they’d returned home from a day’s drinking when Mr. Sullivan became verbally abusive and started punching him
He remembered pleading with him to stop before deciding to fight back for the first time.
He said he started pushing him backwards in an effort to put some distance between them and placed his hand around his neck
He said he never meant to hurt him and was “devastated and heartbroken” by what happened and will never get over it.
He sobbed and blessed himself after the jurors acquitted him this evening and could be heard thanking them and telling his barrister Caroline Biggs he’d never forget her before leaving the dock for a final time as a free man.
