Teenager refused entry to party sentenced for killing

A Dublin teenager who was refused entry to a house party in Ballymun three years ago has been jailed for eight years at the Central Criminal Court for the manslaughter of one of the guests.

John McDonagh (aged 19), of Carton Road, Poppintree, Dublin pleaded guilty in July to the manslaughter of 26-year-old James Donoghue on September 10, 2006.

Suspending the final three years of the sentence, Mr Justice Peter Charleton said while he was obliged to hand down a serious sentence, he was also obliged "to look to the rehabilitation of the accused".

He said McDonagh, who has a 10 month-old son, had "decency and gentleness" in him. Having heard evidence that McDonagh's father died when he was four and his mother left the family home soon afterwards, Mr Justice Charleton said: "I regard him as having a very sad background, but having a sister who stepped up to the mark...and raised him as a decent, clean-living young man."

Detective Sergeant Michael Buckley gave evidence in court that the accused and two companions tried to gain entry to the 21st birthday party on Dane Road, Ballymun on the night in question.

He said they were told it was a family party and were refused entry and that one of them threw a bottle into the garden before leaving. They were pursued by a number of the party guests and given a "hiding" but none of them suffered any significant injuries.

Detective Sergeant Buckley said the three returned home and armed themselves with knives and a stick. They went back to a hill near the house party and began taunting and shouting at the guests.

He said some of the guests went outside to confront them and in the ensuing row Mr Donoghue was stabbed four times. The court heard the fatal stab wound penetrated the deceased's chest to a depth of 15cm, injuring his heart.

Mr Paul Burns SC, for the defence, told the court that Mr McDonagh came forward voluntarily to gardaí. He said Mc Donagh had indicated to gardaí that he never intended using the knife to hurt any person and had intended to use it to slash tyres.

Mr Burns also said that none of the witnesses in the case "had identified Mr McDonagh as having struck the deceased".

But Mr Justice Charleton said he felt that McDonagh "had turned an altercation which might have resulted in someone being mildly injured...to one where knives were used ...and where someone would be seriously injured or even killed."

He said, however, there was nothing to suggest that Mr McDonagh was the leader of the three or that he was actually involved in deliberately targeting Mr Donoghue. He said Mr McDonagh had shown remorse "not only in relation to the killing, but also in relation to the horrible wrong he has done to the Donoghue family."

Mr Justice Charleton said he regarded the right sentence to impose as one of eight years but that he was suspending the final three because of mitigating circumstances. He backdated the sentence to November 5, 2008.

Speaking outside the court, the deceased's mother Monica Donoghue paid tribute to her son.

"James was real quiet. He was always helping people. He wasn't one for fighting... it shouldn't have happened the way it happened...I saw the knife being pulled out of my son that night and that is hard to see."

She also said that Mr Donoghue's 13-year-old sister left school after the killing and now refuses to leave the house. "Her life is over. His brother is suffering badly too, we all are."

In her victim impact statement, Mr Donoghue's fiancée Veronica O'Brien wrote: "Birthdays are meant to be a celebration, but mine will never be because James, my beautiful fiancée, died on my birthday."

Mr McDonagh's co-accused, Bernard Christopher Joyce (aged 22), of Carton Road, Poppintree was jailed for 12 years, with three suspended, in December 2008. While Stephen Maughan (aged 19), of St Margaret's Park, Ballymun was given a six-year sentence last July.