Man to be sentenced for attack on friend

A Kilkenny man who was accused of striking his friend on the head with a rock and attempting to set him on fire will be sentenced at the Central Criminal Court today.

Thomas O’Grady, 24, from Fatima Place, Kilkenny, got into an argument with his 31-year old friend Paul Barry, who had accused him of having HIV.

He was found guilty by a jury last October causing Barry serious harm when he struck him on the head with a rock and fractured his skull in a field in Pennesfatherslot, Kilkenny, on October 9, 1999.

But the jury found him not guilty of two counts of attempted murder. He was also found not guilty of another count of serious harm, which related to Barry’s allegation that he awoke to find O’Grady dragging his feet into a fire.

Barry’s burns from the fire meant that his legs eventually had to be amputated.

Grady is to be sentenced by Justice Henry Abbott at 11am in the Central Criminal Court.