A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering a man who he found in bed with his partner.

Keith Connorton was found guilty of murdering Graham McKeever, 32, at Deerpark Avenue, Tallaght on 18 February 2017 by a majority verdict of 10 to two last month.

Connorton had pleaded not guilty to stabbing Mr McKeever to death after he came home to find him sleeping with his partner.

During the trial the jury heard that Connorton was living with his long-term partner Claire McGrath at Deerpark Avenue but after an argument she invited Mr McKeever to spend the night with her.

When Connorton returned home at 4am he found the two of them together and a fight broke out that resulted in Mr McKeever suffering four stab wounds including one that penetrated his heart and killed him.

The defendant said he acted in self defence after Mr McKeever punched him, breaking his eye socket, and then came at him with a knife.

The Central Criminal Court heard that Connorton and Ms McGrath have since reconciled and have rekindled their relationship.

Mr McKeever's mother said "the worst part" is that her son died alone and "had no one with him that cared about him".

Graham McKeever suffered four stab wounds

Ms McKeever said she had a nervous breakdown a month after her son's funeral. "The grief was so intense, I couldn't accept it, I still can't accept that he is gone and we will never see him again."

She said not only has their life as a family changed, it has been "ripped apart".

"Our hearts are broken, never to be whole again because we lost Graham in the worst possible way. How do you come to terms with this kind of death, it just doesn't feel real to any of us," she said.

Lorcan Staines SC, defence counsel for Connorton, told the court that his client wanted to apologise to the McKeever family.

Connorton took the stand and said: "I can never take back what happened, I'm very sorry for that. I never meant for any of this to happen, I'm sorry for your loss."

Earlier, Sergeant Ciaran Coyne from Coolock Garda Station told the court that Connorton has 41 previous convictions including misuse of drugs, robbery and dangerous driving. Sgt Coyne said the defendant had a "rough past" with drugs and lived the majority of his life in homeless accommodation in the city.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt said it was a "shocking tragedy" but the defendant had to be punished in the same way as people that set out to cause harm.

"It is correct to say that no one makes the case that anyone set out on this night to cause the mayhem from this brief but incredibly tragic event," he said.

Mr Justice Hunt sentenced Connorton to the mandatory term of life imprisonment for murder. The sentence was backdated to 11 September 2017, when he was taken into custody.