Man to be sentenced for manslaughter of friend

A Dublin man who beat his best friend to death in a drunken brawl is to be sentenced today.

Paul Rice of Clanhugh Road, Donnycarney pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Keith Mills who died following an attack at a house in Ayrfield on December 22, 2008.

Rice attacked Mills after a two-day drinking spree, punching and kicking his friend in the head and leaving him in a coma for 10 days before he died from his brain injuries on New Year's Day.

The 26-year-old moved to Belfast but confessed to the killing when he was detained a year later under a European arrest warrant.

He said he "snapped" and attacked his friend because he had hit his sister with a belt.

In a victim impact statement Keith Mills' family said he had lived only to see his daughter's first birthday because of Paul Rice, who had "stood on his head until he was brain dead".

The court heard Rice, who has 22 previous convictions, has expressed sorrow for the killing.