Parents ‘relieved’ after man jailed for killing son

The parents of a German student said they are "relieved that this chapter is closed" after a Dublin man was sentenced to eight years with the final year and a half suspended for the manslaughter of their student son in 2012.

A Dublin teenager was sentenced to nine years with the final two suspended for the murder of the student.

Thomas Heinrich, aged 22, and Robert Rinker, aged 25, were stabbed on St Anthony’s Rd in Rialto on December 1, 2012. Mr Rinker survived but Mr Heinrich died as a result of the injuries he sustained.

Wesley Kelly, aged 20, of St Anthony’s Rd, earlier this week pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court. This was accepted by the DPP.

Having previously denied both charges, Kelly was found guilty of assault causing harm to Mr Rinker by a majority verdict of 11 to 1. The jury failed to reach a verdict as to whether he was guilty of murdering Mr Heinrich.

The other accused, a 17-year-old, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Heinrich and to assault causing harm to Mr Rinker. However, the jury found him guilty of both charges by unanimous decision in May after almost eight hours of deliberations.

The court heard that Mr Rinker was fortunate not to have lost his life having been stabbed several times. He suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and both physical and psychological scarring.

The court previously heard that Mr Heinrich had sustained three fatal stab wounds and was bleeding heavily from his stomach.

Mr Justice Barry White said sight is often lost of the fact that the victim has parents. He said Mr Heinrich was an only child and that the suffering of his parents was “likely to persist for the rest of their lives”. He said the 17-year-old was “fuelled with drink” and was the “ringleader and instigator”.

In a victim impact statement, Wolfgang and Alexandra Heinrich described the “crippling depression” they were suffering since his death.