Man who beat best friend 'to a pulp' told gardaí he wanted to kill another person

'I just want to say that I will never, ever, ever forgive Robert Broughan for taking my son's life,' the victim's mother, Caitríona Hopkins, said

Caitríona Hopkins holds a picture of her late son, Roy Hopkins, as family and friends leave the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin after the sentence hearing of Robert Broughan. Picture: IrishPhotoDesk.ie

A 30-year-old man who beat his best friend "to a pulp" with a baseball bat after they had set out together on a fishing trip told gardaí that he wanted to kill another person and make his victim's head "explode", the Central Criminal Court heard.

Robert Broughan also told detectives in his interviews that there had never been a "cross word" between the pair, but he had swung the bat "with bad intentions and power".