IT was the most important speech of Emma Spellman's life. Walking purposefully towards the witness box with a poise beyond her years, the young woman delivered a heartbreakingly eloquent victim impact statement, painting a warm and vivid picture of her slain brother Mark.

All around her, pent-up emotions had bubbled to the surface. It was shortly after 3.20pm and Dane Pearse (22) had just been convicted of the brutal murder of Mark Spellman by a jury at the Central Criminal Court.

The victim's father Alan leaned forward, a handkerchief soaking up the tears from his swollen, red eyes. His brother Barry sagged in his seat, the tears of relief seeping from a pale face. Flanked by her family, Geraldine Spellman crumpled, her shoulders caving in with released tension as her son's murderer was finally brought to justice.

Behind them, Mark's heartbroken girlfriend Jenny Swan sat stunned, pain etched all over her face, before the torrent of tears broke through.

Emotion

From convicted murderer Dane Pearse, there was no reaction. The cold-blooded killer did not flinch as the verdict was read out, no flicker of emotion visible on the face that remained firmly trained on the bench in front of him. The cold lack of feeling was in stark contrast to the scenes in the witness box, where a number of jurors were visibly distraught.

At the rear of the courtroom, Karen Pearse was still. She had not moved as her son was deemed guilty of the murder, the tears the only sign that the verdict had registered with her.

All eyes then turned to perhaps the youngest girl in the room, Emma Spellman (20). As she spoke, her words unleashed a further wave of the pain, anger and complete devastation experienced by Mark's family and friends in the 15 months since his murder.

More than that, however, they painted a captivating picture of the man who, until now, had been reduced to little more than a name in the cold and necessarily clinical proceedings of the murder trial.

"My brother Mark was always smiling, he was the smartest, most loving, caring, happy, and amazing person," explained Emma Spellman, reading confidently from the notes in front of her.

She went on to describe an ambitious, inspirational character with a close bond with his family, a man who kept a constant, watchful eye over his baby sister.

Sorrow

"The day you died, a piece of all of us died too," continued Emma, the depth of the sorrow audible in her strained voice.

"I have lost my rock, my funny, goofy brother." She spoke lovingly of a brother who sent silly text messages, a man with a "girly" laugh, and a habit of giving "annoying bear hugs", with a fondness for ketchup on almost everything.

"Mum always said Mark would probably put ketchup on cake," she added, as a few wan smiles of recognition broke through the veil of anguish.

Lest there be any doubt of the sheer scale of the impact of Mark's death, Emma Spellman described it neatly but effectively. The empty table at Christmas dinner, his gaping absence from her 21st birthday party this year, the devastating death that forced her brother Barry to say goodbye to his life in Chicago.

"You didn't deserve this, you never hurt anybody. I can't believe you are gone forever." Emma's final words reverberated around the courtroom as she returned to embrace her sobbing family.

It was a deeply harrowing end to a two-week trial.

And despite the outcome, it was murderer Dane Pearse who would have the last word. In a statement delivered by defence counsel Diarmuid McGuinness, he told the Spellman family: "I would just like you to know there's not a day goes by that I don't think about the night of August 4 and what happened that awful night."

He added: "Words cannot describe how sorry I am for your loss. Nobody deserves to die tragically the way your son did."

In words that would no doubt ring hollow, he said he would gladly change places with Mark Spellman if only he could. The Spellman family were suitably silent, their faces a mixture of emotions as the hard-to-hear words were spoken.

Pearse, himself a father of a son (two), continued: "I am a parent myself and the thought of losing my child is horrible, so for you to have lost your son the way you did must be a nightmare come true."

Judge Paul Carney then formally delivered a life sentence, to date from August 6 last year. As two uniformed prison officers moved towards Dane Pearse with handcuffs, his mother Karen rose from her seat.

Visibly anguished, she walked over to where the Spellman family were being engulfed in comforting hugs. The proffered handshake was accepted by Alan and Geraldine Spellman with sincerity, a look of pain and mutual understanding passing between the two parties.

Handshake

Karen then moved towards her son, enveloping him in a tight hug. There were no tears from the man who was about to start a life sentence, just words of comfort for his mother.

Meanwhile, the Spellman family were surrounded by a protective wall of friends, spilling out into the round hall.

And as Dane Pearse was led without fanfare to the waiting prison fan, the family who had been left behind to pick up the pieces slipped quietly away.