Man to be sentenced for road rage killing

A man will be sentenced today for the road rage killing of a British motorist.

Karl Donohoe, 31, had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of construction worker Raymond Bates in Dublin in September 2010.

The victim, a father-of-three from Peterlee, Co Durham, died in hospital four days after being beaten around the head with a hurley stick in a south Dublin suburb.

His killer was due to go on trial for murder at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin last February when he entered a guilty plea for the lesser charge.

Mr Bates had been in Ireland working on a gas pipeline at the time of the attack.

The 49-year-old was beaten about the head after a row with another motorist at the junction of Sandymount Road and Tritonville Road on September 26, 2010.

Both Mr Bates and Donohoe drove away from the scene before a witness reported the assault to the Garda.

The victim went to St Vincent’s Hospital the following day after becoming unwell, and was transferred to Beaumont Hospital where he fell into a coma and died on September 30.

The Bates family are due to read a victim impact statement to the court before sentencing, which can vary from a fine or a suspended sentence up to life imprisonment in exceptional circumstances.

The court previously heard Donohoe, a crane worker from Tyrellstown, west Dublin, wanted to apologise to the Bates family and that the attack happened in a moment of madness.