The sentence hearing of a man who stabbed his stepson to death is due to get underway later today.

David Mahon has been in custody since he was found guilty of Dean Fitzpatrick’s manslaughter earlier this month.

Mr Mahon went on trial for murder at the end of April and after just under eight hours of deliberations, 10 of the 12 jurors found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter earlier this month.

The 45-year-old, who is married to Dean Fitzpatrick’s mother Audrey, admitted holding the knife that caused his death on May 25, 2013, but claimed it was an accident.

He told Gardaí that the young father had walked onto the blade outside his apartment at Northern Cross in Dublin.

He even suggested he may have wanted to walk onto it.

His sentence hearing is due to take place at 2pm this afternoon.