A 29 year-old man has been jailed for ten years and eleven months for the manslaughter of his uncle whose body was discovered on the family farm in Kerry in 1996.
At the Central Criminal Court today 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 Sean 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-foot 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 last 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 now be subject to disinheritance of a "very valuable farm" worth an estimated one million euros that had been left to him and his brother by his uncle Paddy.
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 were 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.