|Darren Goodwin (16) has been sentenced to life at the Central Criminal Court for hammering a schoolboy to death for his mobile phone.
Addressing Goodwin, Mr Justice White said; "Notwithstanding your youth, the only sentence is one of imprisonment for life, and I now impose that sentence on you.
"You killed an innocent 14-year-old in a premeditated, brutal, callous murder. Not alone did you deprive Darragh Conroy of his life at a time when he would have had his entire future to look forward to, you devastated the life of his mother who will grieve and mourn to her dying day for her only child."
Last July at the Central Criminal court Goodwin, of Graigue, Mountmellick, Co Laois, had been found guilty of murdering Mr Conroy.
He had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Darragh Conroy of Briar Lane, Mountmellick, on November 11th, 2003. Mr Justice White told the teenager that he had brought disgrace and shame on his family.
"They will be branded for the rest of their lives as the parents of a murderer. You have ruined your own life," he said.
"You pleaded not guilty, and I am not holding that against you. But by contesting your trial, you gave me an opportunity to observe your attitude and demeanour. To say the least your attitude was one of total indifference to what was going on about you."
Darragh Conroy's murder, said the judge, was premeditated. "You beat to death an unarmed innocent man without any form of justification."
Mr Justice White said he had been told by Mr Patrick Gageby SC, defending, that Goodwin was now remorseful. "I would have thought if you were remorseful that remorse would have manifested before the trial commenced. I find it hard to believe that any expression of remorse is real or genuine," he said.
He told the youth that from his psychological reports it was clear that he was a danger to society and certainly a danger to his father. Goodwin's parents sat motionless as the judge delivered the sentence.
Mr Justice White read from a report written by Mr Andrew Conway, a clinical psychologist who had assessed Goodwin.
"In discussing the incident, Darren stated that Darragh Conroy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When asked if Darragh had not been there at the time, he said he would have killed his own father instead. He said he would have ended up in prison either way.
"When asked if he could flick a switch and swap places with his father for Darragh Conroy, Darren Goodwin stated he would. Darren Goodwin has deep-seated feelings of resentment towards his father and he is a significant risk to his father," the clinical psychologist wrote in his report.
Mr Justice White said he wished to "indicate matters" that would be significant if Goodwin's case was appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
In the course of the trial, the judge said, there was evidence related to the fact that perhaps this was a "trial run" for an attack on a member of the Garda Síochána.
Mr Justice White said he wished to thank the children of Mountmellick. "Without them there might not have been a conviction".
Addressing Mrs Conroy in court, Mr Justice White said: "I do not have a heart of stone, but because of the separation of powers I cannot do anything about the matters raised in your victim impact statement."
He said Goodwin's sentence would be reviewed in 10 years' time.