Brian Murphy trials - Lessons for society in tragic case

THE tragic saga of the Brian Murphy manslaughter case should be required reading for every teenager.

More than any civics class could ever achieve, it exposed in graphic terms how the 18-year-old youth was surrounded, isolated, kicked and beaten so brutally, in an assault lasting no more than 20 seconds, that he died from brain swelling as a result of facial and head injuries sustained in the attack.

In a moment of mindless violence, Brian Murphy’s young life was snuffed out. It was yet another appalling example of the casual violence endemic in Ireland and which occurs with depressing regularity outside pubs and clubs virtually every night of the week.