A father of two was yesterday jailed for eight years for the manslaughter of an elderly woman who died as he and an accomplice burgled her house and stole £320.
Declan Meehan (24), from St Declan's Road, Cork, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ms Margaret Murphy (73) at her home at Barrett's Buildings, Cork, on August 1st, 1997.
Meehan and an accomplice ransacked the house and tied up Ms Murphy, who had a weak heart. As a result of the stress, Ms Murphy suffered a heart attack and died.
Meehan pleaded guilty to the manslaughter six days into his trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. He had pleaded guilty to the burglary charge at the start of the trial.
He said he thought the house was unoccupied when they went in and he never intended any harm to Ms Murphy.
Judge Moran noted that Meehan had co-operated fully with gardai except that he refused to name his accomplice. He jailed Meehan for eight years for the manslaughter and gave him five years concurrent for the burglary.
He also jailed Meehan for five years concurrent for stealing £6,000 in a separate crime on September 26th, 1995.
