Man due to be tried for murder pleads guilty to manslaughter

A 25 year-old man Kerry man who was due to be tried for the murder of a homeless man in Tralee has pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy told a jury of eight men and four women it would not be required to hear the case.

Deirdre Murphy SC, prosecuting, told Justice McCarthy that the plea to manslaughter was acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the basis that there had been an element of provocation which had been met by a "grossly disproportionate" response.

Brendan O'Connor, of Monalee House, Monavalley, Tralee, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of the manslaughter of 50 year-old Edward Joesph Clancy at Bridge Street Tralee on August 15, 2006.

Justice McCarthy will sentence O'Connor on January 13, 2009 when the facts of the case will be heard. He remanded the defendant on continuing bail and ordered the preparation of a Victim Impact Report.