A YOUNG man has been sent to jail for five years for killing an Athlone man who was found on the ground after he had been out socialising following Meath’s football victory over Laois in the Leinster Championship last June.
Jonathan Smith (19), Windtown Crescent, Navan, pleaded guilty at Trim Circuit Court to the unlawful killing of Martin O’Gorman from Battery Road, Athlone, at Academy Street, Navan, on June 21st, 2010.
The court heard that Mr O’Gorman had been found lying unconscious on the roadway by a taxi man just after midnight but died later from his injuries at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
Two men were seen running from the scene.
Mr O’Gorman (63) was an avid Meath Gaelic football fan and had been socialising in Navan following Meath’s victory over Laois in Tullamore in the Leinster Championship earlier in the day.
It was his custom to have a single drink in a couple of pubs and discuss football before going for a cup of tea and a sandwich in a local service station.
Smith who had spent the day drinking, confronted Mr O’Gorman as he walked down the street demanding a cigarette. He then punched him to the face.
Following one of the blows, Mr O’Gorman fell backwards and was fatally injured when his head struck the pavement.
Smith at first denied the incident but when he was told that Mr O’Gorman had died, he admitted striking him.
The court heard that Smith when younger had been a juvenile boxer. He had closed down Mr O’Gorman’s space when he confronted him before hitting with a right hook to the face.
Smith told gardaí he “felt like a piece of s**te” because of what had happened.
Diarmuid O’Gorman told the court that his uncle, who was known as Mairt, had been an unassuming gentleman who had been devoted to his mother during her lifetime. He said his brothers, nephews and nieces were devastated by their loss.
As his uncle had gone to school at Gormanston College and had spent much of his working life in Drogheda, he had become a great supporter of the Meath team and knew many of the players over the years.
He said the family felt great anger towards his attacker.
Smith apologised in court to the family and said he could not stop thinking about what had happened. He said he had never intended to harm Mr O’Gorman.
Judge Michael O’Shea said it had been a vicious attack on a wonderfully decent man. He imposed a five-year sentence backdated to January 2011.
Following the hearing, Diarmuid O’Gorman said the family were satisfied with the result and but he described the defendant’s apology as meaningless.
“It came too late. It means nothing,” he said.