A youth who attacked his cousin with a slash hook has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment after a jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter in the Central Criminal Court yesterday. Patrick "Dannaco" Harty (18), of Ballysimon Road, Limerick, was acquitted of the murder of Mr Danny "Nay" Harty (25), of Barrack Lane, Mungret, Co Limerick, after a jury deliberated for just over 2 1/2 hours.
On April 2nd, 1998, Mr Danny "Nay" Harty died in hospital from injuries received during a fracas in Thomas Street on March 29th, 1998. The fight resulted from a feud between two branches of the Harty family.
Patrick "Dannaco" Harty, who was then 16, confessed to hitting the deceased twice on the head with a slash hook but told gardai he did it to protect his family.
His brother, Thomas, who was jointly arrested for the killing, was himself shot dead in Portarlington, Co Laois, during the summer.
The jury heard that Patrick Harty and his brother, Thomas, jumped from a car, took out slash hooks from the back seat and then ran down the street and hit Mr Danny "Nay" Harty.
Mr Justice Kearns said he took into account Patrick Harty's age, the "sudden and explosive nature of the incident", the offer of a manslaughter plea and the defendant's "blameless record" before the killing.
He sentenced him to five years' imprisonment for manslaughter. On the second count of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Mr Danny "Nay" Harty he sentenced him to two years, and on a third count of use of a slash hook for unlawful purposes the sentence was one year, all to run concurrently.