Teen sentenced to life for mobile phone murder

Sixteen-year-old Darren Goodwin has been sentenced to life for hammering a 14-year-old school boy to death over a mobile phone by Mr Justice Barry White.

Addressing Mr Goodwin, Mr Justice White said: "not withstanding your youth, the only sentence is one of imprisonment of life and I now impose that sentence on you".

"You killed a innocent 14-year-old in a pre-meditated brutal callous murder. Not alone did you deprive Darragh Conroy of his life at a time when he would have had his entire future to look forward to, you devastated the life of his mother who will grieve and mourn to her dying day for her only child."

16-year-old Darren Goodwin of Graigue, Mountmellick had been found guilty of murdering Mr Conroy last July at the Central Criminal court.

Mr Goodwin had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Conroy of Briar Lane Moutmellick on 11 November 2003.

Mr Justice White told the teenager that he had "brought disgrace and shame on your family".

"They will be branded for the rest of their lives as the parents of a murderer. You have ruined your own life.

"You pleaded not guilty and I am not holding that against you. But by contesting your trial, you gave me an opportunity to observe your attitude and demeanor. To say the least your attitude was one of total indifference to what was going on about you.

Darragh Conroy’s murder, Mr Justice White said, was "pre-meditated".

"You beat to death an unarmed innocent man without any form of justification".

Mr Justice White said he had been urged by defence counsel, Mr Patrick Gageby, SC, that Mr Goodwin was now remorseful. "I would have thought if you were remorseful that remorse would have manifested before the trial commenced," the judge said.

"I find it hard to believe that any expression of remorse is real or genuine", Mr Justice White said.

The trial judge told the schoolboy that from his psychological reports it was clear that "you are a danger to society and you are certainly a danger to your father".

The parents of Darren Goodwin sat motionless as Judge White delivered the sentencing.

Judge White read from a report written by Mr Andrew Conway, the clinical psychologist who had assessed Mr Goodwin.

"In discussing the incident, Darren stated that Darragh Goodwin was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When asked if Darragh had not been there at the time, he said he would have killed his father instead. He said he would have ended up in prison either way.

"When asked if he could flick a switch and swap places with his father for Darragh Conroy, Darren Goodwin stated he would".

"Darren Goodwin has deep-seated feelings of resentment towards his father and he is a significant risk to his father," the clinical psychologist wrote in his report.

Mr Justice White said he wished to "indicate matters" that would be significant if Mr Goodwin’s case was to be appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal.

In the course of the trial, Judge White said, there was evidence "related to the fact that perhaps this was a "trial run" for an attack on a member of an Garda Síochana".

Judge White said the convicted teenager had "expressed a desire to kill a member of an Garda Síochana" and that Darragh Conroy’s death was a "dry run" for such attack.

Mr Justice White said he wished to thank the children of Mountmellick: "Without them there might not have been a conviction."

Addressing Mrs Conroy in court, Judge White said: "I do not have a heart of stone, but because of the separation of powers I cannot do anything about the matters raised in your victim impact statement."

The trial judge said Mr Goodwin’s sentence would be reviewed "in ten years time".