A man found guilty six weeks ago of murdering a taxi driver in a frenzied stabbing has been moved into protective custody after death threats were made against him by telephone to Mountjoy prison.

Carlos Byrne (23), from Clonee, Co Meath, was jailed for life for stabbing taxi driver Mark Smyth (31) over 40 times in front of his girlfriend and young son last year.

Byrne's partner, Lindsey Fahy (26), was found guilty of Smyth's manslaughter for her role in the attack and is awaiting sentence.

Byrne, a drug addict, told gardaí that he owed Smyth money for cocaine. He said the deceased had been demanding the money on the day he killed him.

The phone calls to Mountjoy making deaths threats against Byrne have resulted in prison officers moving him to different cells on at least two occasions and placing him in protective custody.

It is understood that those who made the threats are claiming to have been associates of the taxi driver.

The jury heard during the trial that Smyth drove to Byrne and Fahy's home in Co Meath with his partner Emma Shaw and their two-year-old son in the front passenger seat.

He picked up the pair who asked to be driven to the Fortlawn Estate, where Fahy's family lived. Both got into the back of the car and were armed with knives.

When Smyth stopped his taxi Byrne reached around and stabbed Smyth in the neck. Fahy then stabbed him in the face.