Teenager to be sentenced for killing pensioner

A teenager is to be sentenced today for killing the pensioner he claimed sexually abused him when he was younger.

Nineteen-year-old Brendan McGovern of Killahurk, Carrigallen, Leitrim beat 73-year-old John Golden unconscious at his home in Co Cavan on October 6, 2010.

McGovern claims John Golden sexually assaulted him two or three times when he was 13 or 14.

On the evening of the attack he claims the pensioner had taunted him in the pub and he had decided to call round to the older man's prefabricated house for a confrontation.

He claims the 73-year-old handed him a condom and took off his trousers presuming he would come for sex.

The teenager said this made him angry and sparked the beating that followed.

The court heard the 19-year-old is bordering on a mild intellectual disability and is at low risk of a future aggressive assault.

His lawyers claim he was provoked. Mr Justice Paul Carney will hand down a sentence later this morning.