Murphy trial - DPP decision should be explained

THE news that the Director of Public Prosecutions is unlikely to re-try Sean Mackey for the manslaughter of Brian Murphy will undoubtedly intensify the suffering of the family of the victim, who was kicked to death outside the Burlington Hotel in August 2000.

The anguish of his mother and father Mary and Denis was plain to see as they conveyed to Judge Michael White their sense of being brutalised by the seven-week trial which, in their eyes, has avoided establishing the truth.

For them, the agony and grief of this tragedy will continue until next Monday’s sentencing and beyond, as it will for the families of three young men found guilty of violent disorder, with one also guilty of manslaughter.