Man stabbed gamer friend during row over recording of Covid-19 deaths, court hears

An online dispute between two video game players about the recording of Covid-19 deaths led to a stabbing, Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Former friends William Cuffe and Rory Fagan were playing Battlefield V on their PlayStations in their respective homes before the incident in Moate, Co Westmeath on December 30th, 2020.

A verbal disagreement turned violent when Mr Fagan, who lived on Church Lane, drove to Cuffe’s home in Slieve Rua and was stabbed three times during a struggle. Cuffe (49), who is on bail, pleaded guilty to assault in connection with the knife attack.

Garda Hayley Foley said the pair, who had known each other for five years through gaming, discussed the coronavirus online but “had a disagreement over figures and how deaths are recorded”.

Mr Fagan started shouting and the accused told him to f***-off. Cuffe claimed Mr Fagan, a father of two, warned him to “never tell me to f*** off or I will go down and drag you out the window”. However, Cuffe told him to f*** off again and was expecting Mr Fagan to arrive at his house, which he did five minutes later.

Cuffe claimed he had the knife as a deterrent as he knew Mr Fagan was angry and stronger than him. He told gardaí that Mr Fagan grabbed him and put him in a headlock. He said he told Mr Fagan to let him go or he would be stabbed. Cuffe said he thought he “nicked” Mr Fagan once under the shoulder and that he did not intend to cause serious harm.

However, the court heard he stabbed Mr Fagan three times, puncturing his right chest, upper abdomen and lower back. Mr Fagan bled heavily but made his way to his girlfriend’s home and was taken by ambulance to hospital.

Cuffe, a former bricklayer, has no prior convictions and has not come to Garda attention since. He told the court he was wrong and truly sorry.

Mr Fagan, a pharmaceutical worker, did not attend the hearing but said in a victim impact statement that he was lucky to make it to the hospital. He said he was annoyed at Cuffe’s Covid-19 scepticism, only intended to put him into a headlock and could not understand why he had a knife.

Garda Foley said Mr Fagan is facing public order charges before the District Court over the incident.

She agreed with John Short SC, defending, that Cuffe and Fagan became “caught in a moment of bizarre behaviour given that we were in the throes of the second lockdown” at the time.

Judge Keenan Johnson asked for a verified medical report on the victim and a probation report on Cuffe. He adjourned sentencing until November.