A 22-YEAR-OLD Dublin man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison with three years suspended for the manslaughter of James Donoghue as part of a joint enterprise with two other men in September 2006.
Bernard Joyce, also known as Brian Joyce, with an address at Carton Terrace, Poppintree, Dublin, was convicted last December by a Central Criminal Court jury of the manslaughter of James Donoghue (26) at Dane Road, Ballymun, on September 10th, 2006.
The court heard that Joyce and two male companions had attempted to gain access to a 21st birthday party at Dane Road on the night but were refused.
One of the men threw a bottle into the yard of the house and a number of people who were inside came out and beat them up.
Joyce managed to escape unharmed and returned to his home where he met up with his two male companions.
The men armed themselves with knives and sticks and returned to the party at Dane Road and challenged those inside to come out and fight by taunting and banging their knives against the wall.
A violent confrontation ensued during the course of which James Donoghue received three stab wounds, one of which punctured his heart causing death.
Joyce, who was 19 at the time, initially denied any involvement but later admitted stabbing Mr Donoghue twice, claiming it was in self-defence.
Det Sgt Michael Buckley said Joyce was not previously known to the police and had no prior convictions.
In a victim-impact statement read out to the court, Monica Whelan, mother of Mr Donoghue said: “Not only did we lose a son and brother but we lost a best friend, someone we looked up to with all our hearts.”
Mr Donoghue’s fiancee Veronica O’Brien said: “I never knew I could feel such pain and now I know what a broken heart feels like.”
The court also heard how Mr Donoghue’s youngest sister, who was 13-years-old at the time of the incident, was deeply affected by her brother’s loss and has not been to school since his death.
In a letter written by Joyce and read out by defence counsel Pádraig Dwyer, Joyce described the incident as “an act of madness”. He said: “I’ve let down my family and brought shame on my community. Travellers and settled people always had a good relationship with each other in Ballymun. I hope what happened hasn’t affected this.”
Mr Dwyer told the court that in the two years since the incident Joyce had cut himself off from society and spent all his time alone.
Mr Justice George Birmingham in handing down the sentence said that the day had been one which started with such promise and ended in such tragedy.
He said Joyce was involved in provoking a violent confrontation and had chosen to arm himself with “a truly fearsome weapon”. The judge said that despite this there were mitigating factors including the accused’s youth, difficult background and lack of previous convictions.
He said: “This is an offence for which the appropriate sentence would be one of 12 years, however, having regard to the factors identified, I propose to suspend the last three years of that sentence.”
Joyce was also sentenced to three years imprisonment on each of the lesser offences of violent disorder and production of a knife, to run concurrently.