Former soldier to be sentenced for manslaughter of sex worker in Westmeath

An ex-soldier who killed a sex worker in Co. Westmeath four years ago is due to be sentenced today.

In July, Jimmy Devaney of Millbrook Avenue, Monksland, Athlone was cleared of murdering Marie Greene but found guilty of manslaughter.

Marie Green was last seen alive the evening before Valentine’s Day 2011. Her body was found in a bog just outside Athlone nine days later.

Jimmy Devaney’s trial heard she had been working as a prostitute, and he was one of her clients.

The 67-year-old father-of-three told Gardaí she had been blackmailing him for years and was threatening to tell his wife.

On the night of her death, he said he drove out to the bog to try and talk to her, but he said she pulled a knife on him and he stabbed her during the ensuing struggle.

The court heard he then disposed of her body and went to play poker with some friends.

The former member of the Defence Forces was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter at the end of July and has been in custody ever since.

He is due back before the Central Criminal Court this morning for his sentence hearing.