Man gets 11 years for role in killing

A man has been sentenced to 11 years for his role in the manslaughter of a Dublin father whose naked body was found in a field two weeks after he was abducted by a gang of men.

Daniel Quinn, aged 24, brought gardaí to where Ciarán Noonan’s body had been dumped outside Trim, Co Meath and revealed the victim had stabbed himself with a knife from his sleeve prior to being beaten with an iron bar and bundled into the back of a car.

Quinn claimed Mr Noonan, who died of neck compression, did this to avoid being abducted.

Lynn Issacson, aged 34, received a three-year suspended sentence for her role. She was told to look out for the victim in the East Wall area. She made over 30 phonecalls to the driver of the vehicle in which he was taken and then destroyed the phone.

Quinn, a father of one, of Brega, Balbriggan, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to unlawfully killing Mr Noonan, aged 29, on a date between Oct 20 and Nov 4, 2011. He has seven previous convictions.

Issacson, of Lighthouse Apartments, Church Rd, East Wall, pleaded guilty to destroying phone evidence on Oct 20, 2011. She has no previous convictions.

Judge Mary Ellen Ring acknowledged the anguish Mr Noonan’s family has suffered, in particular his young daughter.

“This young girl’s experience will be long lasting and undoubtedly follow her whole life,” said the judge.

She accepted Quinn’s remorse and his willingness to assist gardaí in locating Mr Noonan’s body, but stated that had the case gone to trial, he would have faced 15 years in prison.

The judge further noted that Quinn, Issacson and the deceased had all been indebted to others for drugs. She said the irony was that though there were mandatory minimum sentences for firearms and drugs offences, there was no similar legislation for participating in or threatening violence.

She told the court that violence used in punishment or debt collection would not be tolerated.

Judge Ring suspended the final year of Quinn’s 11-year term on strict conditions.

At an earlier hearing, victim impact statements were read out on behalf of Mr Noonan’s mother Geraldine Noonan, and his daughter, now aged 10.

The child’s mother said her daughter had been a fun-loving, happy little girl until her father was stolen from her. “It will take my daughter years to get over losing her daddy and to get over her anger and loss, and that’s if she ever does.”