Angry scenes as man pleads guilty to assault charge

The accused man in the Tralee murder trial was jailed for six years today after he pleaded guilty to assaulting the victim in what was described as a calculated and unprovoked attack with the intention of causing serious harm.

The prosecution accepted yesterday that evidence was given in the trial that the fatal blow was inflicted by a second man – not the accused.

There were angry scenes outside the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork as members of the victim’s family said the feud between the McCarthy and Faulkner families in Tralee would continue.

The Faulkners said they did not get justice.

Michael McCarthy of Ballyspillane, Killarney, Co Kerry, smiled as he stepped into the prison van to be taken away to start his six-year sentence on a charge of assault causing serious harm to Michael Faulkner at Mitchell's Crescent, Tralee, Co Kerry, on August 23, 2004.

William Faulkner said on behalf of his family: “There was no need to kill my brother.

“I know this dispute is going on for years but there was no need to kill him.”

Mr Justice Paul Carney said the Director of Public Prosecutions had accepted a plea of guilty to a downgraded charge, albeit a very serious one.

“I will not be sentencing on the basis of a homicide or imposing any colourable variation of such sentence,” Mr Justice Carney said. “I am dealing with assault of the most grave kind.

“The assault was one of the most vicious in character with the gravest of consequences. Anyone who involves himself with slash hooks is going to have to bear the responsibility for the consequences.”