Court told Aidan Mann expressed fears about neighbour before his killing

Graphic CCTV footage which captured a man chasing his neighbour along a Co Down street then catching up with him and stabbing him to death has been played in court. Aidan Mann was stabbed 14 times outside a car dealership on Church Street in Downpatrick on the morning of January 3, 2022. He was chased and stabbed by his neighbour Barry Donnelly (38) who at the time was 'actively psychotic' and who is due to be sentenced for Mr Mann's manslaughter next week.

During a plea hearing held at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday, it emerged that the two men lived in the same block of flats but barely knew each other. It also emerged that Mr Mann texted friends just prior to his death saying he was afraid to leave his flat as he feared Donnelly wanted to start a fight with him. Mr Mann - a talented 28-year old tattoo artist also known as Zen Black - moved into his flat two months prior to his death, and the fatal incident began outside the apartment block. He was captured on CCTV leaving the block of flats just before 11am wearing a motorbike helmet. After being approached by Donnelly he crossed the road and started running along Church Street, still wearing his helmet and being chased by an armed Donnelly. The pursuit continued and at one point Mr Mann turned around, looked back at Donnelly and appeared to gesture at him as he ran before he crossed the road and into on-coming traffic. The CCTV footage then showed Donnelly catching up with Mr Mann on the pavement outside a car dealership where the fatal stabbing occurred. After Mr Mann fell to the ground, Donnelly straddled him and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest, leg and torso. Members of the public intervened, pulled Donnelly off Mr Mann and called 999. The call was made at 10.58am and after arriving at the scene, ambulance staff began tending to Mr Mann while Donnelly - who was still being restrained by the public - was arrested.

Two large kitchen knifes that were used by Donnelly were seized from the scene. Mr Murphy said that despite medical attention, Mr Mann was pronounced dead at 11.42am. A post mortem conducted on January 5 concluded the cause of death was a stab wound to the chest which penetrated his heart. Also noted by the pathologist were 13 further stab wounds. The prosecutor told Mr Justice O'Hara that at the scene Donnelly shouted it was a 'revenge attack' for his brother who had been murdered the previous evening which he said "transpired to be completely wrong" and untrue. Donnelly was interviewed the following day and admitted arming himself with the knives, chasing and stabbing Mr Mann, He also said he had been having problems with neighbours, that he lost control and that he didn't set out to kill Mr Mann. The father-of-two subsequently pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility on January 3, 2022 and of possessing two large kitchen knives on Church Street in Downpatrick on the same date. When Mr Justice O'Hara asked if the two men were well known to each other, he was told by Mr Murphy that in the week before the stabbing, Donnelly had called the PSNI several times and claimed his neighbours had been calling him a 'paedo and pervert' and shouting through the walls. The prosecutor added that on December 31, 2021 Mr Mann called the police and reported his drunk neighbour was shouting, banging his door and trying to get into his flat. He added that as a result police called to the flats and "no offences were detected." Also raised by Mr Murphy was the "profound effect" the loss of Mr Mann has had on his family. Donnelly's barrister Gavan Duffy KC said "on behalf of the defence, we recognise the very considerable loss that has been inflicted on the Mann family" and spoke of the "regret, remorse and heartbreak" his client has expressed. In the month after his arrest, Donnelly was transferred to the Shannon Clinic - a secure psychiatric unit at Knockbracken Healthcare Centre - where he currently remains. His abnormal mental functioning and Paranoid Schizophrenia diagnosis were highlighted by Mr Duffy, who said the stabbing occurred when his client was "actively psychotic." Revealing that for 10 years Donnelly was not registered with a GP and never sought hospital treatment, Mr Duffy said Donnelly was not aware he was suffering acute mental illness until after the "terrible act" which claimed Mr Mann's life. After listening to submissions from both the Crown and defence, Mr Justice O'Hara said he wanted time to reflect on what he heard and said he would pass sentence next Tuesday, 4 July on the two charges arising from Mr Mann's death. Donnelly will also be sentenced for attacking a mother and son with a golf club in an unrelated incident on Bridge Street in Downpatrick on June 28, 2021.

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