Jail for man who left brother for dead after clash about burnt kettle

An elderly alcoholic who left his brother to die over several days after beating him with an iron bar has received a seven-year sentence with the final three suspended today.

John Mahon (aged 61) claimed he hit his brother a few times with a 675 gramme tubular iron bar, known as a water key, to “shut him up” after a row about burning a kettle in the house they had shared since childhood.

He later told gardaí he didn’t get help for his brother, Mr Terrence Mahon (58), despite understanding he was badly injured on the floor because he thought the deceased would be “alright”.

Detective Sergeant Peter Woods revealed that a neuropathologist had concluded the deceased lay comatose for several days before death as there had been evidence of healing around the head wounds.

Mahon, of Bentley House, Dun Laoghaire, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his brother at their Patrician Villas family home in Stillorgan between January 16 and 18, 2009. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Patrick McCartan extended his sympathies to the Mahon family and said: “The viciousness of the attack is compounded beyond justification by the callous abandoning of (Terrence Mahon) over a few days.”

The judge said medical reports suggested the deceased had survived long enough for John Mahon to have sobered up and sought earlier help.

Det Sgt Woods told Mr Paul Carroll BL, prosecuting, that neighbours called emergency services late on January 18, after Mahon had told them his brother might be dead in the house.

Det Sgt Woods there was no garda investigation into the death until Mahon made admissions in a voluntary statement the following day.

The detective sergeant told Mr Carroll that Mahon’s admissions were confusing because he had issues recalling days and dates, but gardaí eventually gleaned from him that he had followed his brother upstairs after the kettle-burning row, caused him to bang his head off a wall by striking him with a walking stick and then hit him with the water key, leaving him comatose on the floor with a double-fractured skull.

Gardaí gathered from neighbours’ last sightings of Terrence Mahon and the pathology reports that he had died over a few days.

Mahon maintained he beat his brother several times around the head and chest with the water key to “shut him up” after the row and then left him where he fell thinking he would be alright.

Det Sgt Woods said John Mahon didn’t check on his brother for a few days even though he returned home from trips to the off-license and fast food outlets to sleep.

He told gardaí he regretted his actions, saying he would not have behaved that way to a dog, but could not explain why he did not check on his brother or call for help sooner knowing he was badly injured.

Det Sgt Woods told Mr Carroll that both brothers had been alcoholics and had lived in squalor in their original family home, but Terrence Mahon had managed to hold down a job as houseman at the Montrose Hotel for 39 years before he was let go.

Det Sgt Woods said the deceased had been let go shortly before his death and had “gone off the rails” with alcohol, like his brother at the time.

The detective sergeant read out a victim impact statement submitted by the Mahon family which described their anger towards John Mahon for leaving his brother to die alone on the floor.

The family said they would never forgive John, understand his actions nor forget the “inhumane” way he abandoned his brother.

Det Sgt Woods agreed with Mr Paul McDermott SC, defending, that though both brothers shared a house they had lived very separate lives.

He agreed they were both alcoholics and that John Mahon had been drunk at the time of the attack.

He further agreed that Mahon had expressed sorrow and regret for what had happened.

Det Sgt Woods explained to Judge McCartan that the pathologist’s report said it was unclear whether the fatal head injuries had resulted from a beating or from impact with a wall or floor.

He told the judge that the massive trauma to Terrence Mahon’s chest area was consistent with blows from the water key while the deceased had been lying down.

Mr McDermott submitted to Judge McCartan that his client’s “unanticipated and spontaneous eruption of violence” was out of keeping with his previous existence in the house.

He submitted that though the brothers had verbal exchanges there had never before been any violence.

He asked the judge to consider his client’s early guilty plea and assistance with the garda investigation.

Judge McCartan said he thought seven years was a reasonable sentence but suspended the final three years given Mahon’s early plea, personal circumstances and the fact he is not likely to re-offend.