Two young men to be sentenced in May for unlawful killing of Matt O’Neill in Carrigaline
Matt O'Neill was killed on December 28, 2022, at Glenwood estate, Carrigaline, County Cork. Picture courtesy of rip.ie
The two young men who now stand convicted of the unlawful killing of 29-year-old Matt O’Neill in Carrigaline will be sentenced for his manslaughter on May 16 after they were remanded in custody on Monday until then.
This follows the final breakthrough in jury deliberations on Monday when Ricardo Hoey was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of 29-year-old Matt O’Neill in Carriglaine at Christmas in 2022.
The jury of six men and six women commenced their deliberations 10 days ago after hearing a fortnight of evidence. They returned to Courtroom 6 at the Central Criminal Court sitting at Anglesea Street in Cork shortly after noon on Monday with their majority 10-2 verdict against Mr Hoey.
This brought to an end the extensive considerations given by the jury to this verdict. While their deliberations had to break over two weekends, and it was not possible to sit last Friday, they deliberated for a total of 18 hours and 42 minutes, commencing on Friday, April 19.
The jury reached a similar verdict by an 11-1 majority against Jordan Deasy earlier in their deliberations of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Prosecution barrister Donal O’Sullivan said victim impact statements on behalf of the O’Neill family would be presented at the sentencing hearing. Senior counsel Tom Creed for Mr Hoey and barrister Paula McCarthy for Jordan Deasy said probation reports would be needed in respect of the defendants.
21-year-old Ricardo Hoey of 7 Ardcarrig, Carrigaline, County Cork, and 19-year-old Jordan Deasy of 41 Ravensdale, Heron's Wood, both pleaded not guilty to the single charge against them, namely that on December 28, 2022, at Glenwood estate, Carrigaline, County Cork, they did murder 29-year-old Matt O’Neill, contrary to common law.
Ms Justice Lankford told the jury at the outset of their deliberations that they should approach the case as effectively being two separate trials and that in each one there were three possible verdicts open to them: guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter or not guilty. Both of them have now been found guilty of manslaughter but not guilty of murder.
The two young men had no intention of killing or seriously injuring Mr O’Neill and it was a chance encounter which only lasted seconds where two worlds collided, one defence lawyer claimed at the closing of the case.
But the prosecution argued there was sufficient evidence on which the jury could find both accused guilty of murder. Prosecution senior counsel, Jane Hyland, said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the killing was caused by Mr Hoey and Mr Deasy.
Evidence of pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, was referenced by Ms Hyland who said the jury could also have regard to blood of the deceased being found on a sock worn by Mr Hoey. Ms Hyland said that not only was the killing caused by the two accused but that this was both unlawful and intentional.
In relation to intention, the prosecution's case was that it was an intention to cause serious harm and it was never contended by the prosecution that their intention was to kill. However, she said that an intention to cause serious harm was sufficient to ground a murder charge.
Ms Hyland said CCTV showed Matt O’Neill appearing to be fine before the incident. Ms Hyland said CCTV showed two people getting out of a car and within five seconds Mr O’Neill was on the ground and there was “a concerted attack”.
Ms Hyland said Mr Hoey pushed the deceased who fell to the ground, Mr Deasy punched him and Mr Hoey then kicked him in the head. She said that if you push a drunken person to the ground the probable outcome is that he will be seriously injured.
Tom Creed, senior counsel for Ricardo Hoey, suggested the late Mr O’Neill might have been vulnerable and he asked how was Ricardo Hoey to know there was an underlying vulnerability as a result of another assault on him by others four days earlier. The defence senior counsel asked if Mr Hoey going almost immediately to the guards afterwards indicated an intention to cause serious harm.
Ricardo Hoey was afraid Matt O’Neill would hit him or hit his car and what he did was in self-defence, Mr Creed argued. He pointed to evidence of the deceased having a thin skull but no skull fracture, indicative — he submitted — of the blows not being that serious.
He said that what occurred was a chance encounter — two worlds colliding — and lasted only a matter of seconds.
Brendan Grehan, senior counsel for Jordan Deasy, said there was contact in the first punch by Mr Deasy and that the second punch only grazed Mr O’Neill. He said Mr Deasy was a passenger in the car and not in full control of the situation and ran away afterwards, but met the matter fairly when questioned.
Mr Grehan said that one hears of gangland murders with all of the associated pre-planning but that here was an 18-year-old, at the time, upset at interview and crying for his mother. Mr Grehan also pointed out that the teenager did not seek to blame Mr Hoey.
Mr Grehan referred to the possibility that as a result of being assaulted by others four days before the incident at the centre of the murder trial, the late Mr O’Neill could have been more vulnerable before the incident on December 28, 2022, occurred.
