Parents’ fears for effect of prison life on their son

THE parents of Patrick O’Dwyer, the young Co Clare man who killed his sister, have voiced their fears for the effect that prison will have on him.

O’Dwyer, 21, was sentenced to six years in jail earlier this week for the manslaughter of 19-year-old Marguerite at the family home in Ennistymon, Co Clare, in November 2004 while he was suffering a psychiatric episode.

A jury found him guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, the first time such a verdict has been handed down here, but the judge had only the usual options of prison or a suspended sentence to impose on him.