An individual who unintentionally stabbed his own mother in the heart as she attempted to break up a quarrel outside of a bar has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
On August 22 of last year, Jamie Dempsey, 32, and his mother Karen, 55, had gone out for drinks at the Brambles bar in Kirkby, Merseyside.
He ran into heroin dealer Brian Flynn inside, who he owed £2,000 to, and the two got into a fight that spilled out into the parking lot.
Dempsey pulled out a kitchen knife he’d taken with him in case there was trouble and stabbed Flynn five times, but he lost his balance and the sixth blow struck his mum as she stepped between them.
He told jurors at Liverpool Crown Court he didn’t realise how badly hurt she was when he hugged her and she told him: ‘You’re just a divvy lad, it would happen to you.’
Dempsey said: ‘I gave her a hug and she said to leave. She told me to leave and get away from there.’
The court heard he fled the scene and ran to his aunt’s house where he asked his cousin to burn his blood-stained clothes.
He later phoned Merseyside Police saying he’d been in a fight and used a piece of glass to stab someone in self-defence.
Jurors heard he was still unaware his mother had collapsed shortly after their embrace and been rushed to Aintree Hospital, where she died an hour later.
The knife had gone right through her heart and penetrated her liver, the court was told.
Dempsey told the court he regretted stabbing his mum ‘more than anything in the world’.
He said: ‘She was my rock, she was the only person in the world that’s been there all my life – my best friend to be honest with you.
‘I loved her more than anything. Absolutely brilliant she was, best nan in the world.’
Dempsey was cleared of his mum’s murder but convicted of manslaughter.
The jury also acquitted him of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Flynn but found him guilty of the lesser charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm as well as possessing a knife.
Judge Denis Watson KC told him: ‘If you had thought for a moment about your mums’ wish to stop you, you would have realised that if you took the fight to him, she would try to intervene.’
He went on: ‘As you tried to stab him yet again, it seems you were off balance, you missed him but your momentum turned 90 degrees or more and your knife plunged into your mother’s chest.
‘It must have been a forceful blow because the wound went to a depth of approximately six inches. She put both hands to her chest as she realised she had been stabbed.
‘Neither you nor your mother realised the gravity of her injury and you were both unaware that she was mortally wounded.
‘Your mother knew you had been in an unlawful fight and she told you to leave, and you also know you had been in an unlawful fight so you left and tried to cover your tracks.
‘I accept that you never had any intent to do harm to your mother. The fight and your pride was your ultimate priority and saving face was all that mattered.
‘Similarly I have no doubt that you regret killing your mother and you will do all of your life.
‘However, your remorse stops there, as you sought to justify your actions as self-defence, and claimed that you only picked up the knife for that purpose.
‘The simple fact is that your decision to bring a knife and use it caused her death.’
Mrs Dempsey’s partner Alan James Thompson said in a victim impact statement: ‘My world has changed forever.
‘The pain is unbearable and to see the same pain in the eyes of Karen’s family and close friends is too much to bear.
‘Her zest for life was contagious, she made people smile with her optimistic spirit and always seeing the good in people.
‘I feel like a ship lost at sea with no direction. Karen was the wind that blew me along and motivated me every single day.’
Her sister Lynn Dempsey added: ‘The pain is immense when I think of how she died in such a horrendous way.
‘Karen was overjoyed when she became a nan and adored her two granddaughters, and they had a very close relationship.’
She continued: ‘The outpouring of grief from the community of Kirkby was a testament to how much Karen touched people’s lives.’