Jail for thug who knifed wife's lover to death
A MEMBER of a notorious Irish crime family who fled Britain after killing a man for sleeping with his wife has been jailed for six years.
Kenneth Dundon (49) stabbed Christopher Jacobs in the face after discovering he was having an affair with his wife, Anne McCarthy.
The father-of-six was arrested within a few hours of the attack in north London but was released on bail and returned to his home town of Limerick.
Dundon, three of whose sons were recently jailed, made Irish legal history when he became the first person to be arrested and extradited under an EU warrant.
Dundon pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month.
The Old Bailey heard that he had lived with his wife in Britain since 1981 and that at the time of the killing was staying in Pearson Street, Bethnal Green, east London.
Mrs McCarthy, an alcoholic, began a sexual relationship with Mr Jacobs, a heroin user, after meeting him at a Department of Social Services office in August 2003.
Dundon became angry after Mrs McCarthy regularly spent nights away from home at Mr Jacobs' flat in Hemsworth Court, Hobbs Place Estate, Hoxton.
On October 2 he saw his wife in the market and took her back to the family home.
Mr Jacobs and his friend Kathleen Price mistakenly believed Dundon had imprisoned her there against her will and a confrontation ended with Dundon throwing Mr Jacobs out of his flat.
A week later, on the night of October 8, 2003, Dundon put on a mask and kicked in the victim's door armed with a knife.
He then stormed inside and started hitting Mr Jacobs about the face and head.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said that Mrs McCarthy recognised her husband but was pushed out of the room and did not see the attacker leave.
"When she went back she found Christopher Jacobs sitting on a sofa bleeding from wounds to his face and neck," he said.
"Police arrived to find his face and body covered in blood. It proved impossible to resuscitate the victim."
Mr Jacobs (50) choked to death on his own blood at his flat in Hoxton, north London, as the masked killer fled.
A post-mortem revealed that he had suffered a fatal 11-cm deep stab wound to the left of his face, which severed blood vessels and caused him to choke to death.
Denials
He also had cuts to his nose, lip, forearm and thigh and a slash wound to his right temple.
Dundon had washed his clothes and shaved off his moustache when he was arrested for murder at his home at 3.55am.
In interview he claimed he had been to the flat looking for his wife with his 16-year-old son but was told she was not there and spent the rest of the night at the pub.
Dundon was released without charge on police bail on October 10, 2003, and fled to Ireland, from where he was extradited in September last year.
The prosecution accepted the manslaughter plea because of the quality of eyewitness evidence.
