A 29-year-old man has been jailed for 10 years and 11 months for the manslaughter of his uncle, whose body was discovered on the family farm in Kerry in 1996.
At the Central Criminal Court yesterday, after almost nine hours of deliberations over three days, a jury unanimously found Eugene Daly not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of his uncle Patrick (Paddy) Daly at Dooneen, Kilcummin, Killarney, on January 18th, 1996. Daly had denied the charge.
Paddy Daly died from severe head injuries and was dumped in a well near his farmhouse after his brother, Seán Daly, attacked him with an iron bar. Eugene Daly admitted he was present during the attack and that he threw his uncle's body down a 22-ft deep well. His father was also charged with murder but he died in 2000.
Following the verdict, Mr Daly's defence team, led by Mr Brendan Grehan, SC, asked for sentencing to proceed because his client wished to "learn his fate" immediately.
Imposing sentence, Mr Justice Henry Abbott said he took into account a number of mitigating factors, including Daly's young age at the time of the incident, his disadvantaged social circumstances and the stress he had endured over the past seven-and-a-half years.
However, he said that although there was no evidence of premeditation, the unlawful killing was not "entirely spontaneous" and Daly had shown "a degree of callousness" in disposing of the body.
"The accused stood by and took no steps to assist, defend or protect Paddy Daly from the attack, which proved fatal," he said.
Mr Grehan had told the court that the "irony" of the verdict was that Mr Daly would be subject to disinheritance of a "very valuable farm" worth an estimated €1 million, which had been left to him and his brother by his uncle.
Mr Justice Abbott said he had also taken consideration of this "very significant factor", which had attracted his sympathy to some degree. "He was promised a share in the only asset the deceased had. . . and he must bear the burden for his loss," he said.
Mr Daly bowed his head and smiled briefly when the verdict was announced but remained impassive as the sentence was imposed.
Afterwards, he looked slightly shocked as he consulted with his defence team. None of his family was in court to hear the verdict.
The judge thanked the jury and discharged them from jury service for five years. He refused leave to appeal the conviction and sentence, but said he would recommend that Mr Daly serve his sentence in Cork prison.