A teenager has been jailed for eight years after he was convicted of the murder of a father of seven who was attacked by a group of men at a funeral.
The teenager, who was 17 and a juvenile at the time but had turned 19 when he was convicted of the killing, was sentenced to 11 years in jail with the final three years suspended by Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.
The teenager, along with five other older men, had denied the murder of Thomas Dooley (43) from Killarney at Rath Cemetery, Tralee, Co Kerry, on October 5th, 2022. All six were convicted last July of the murder following a trial in Cork that lasted several weeks.
The five adults included the deceased’s brother, Patrick Dooley (36) from Killarney and his cousins Danny Dooley (42) from Tralee, and Thomas Dooley Snr (43) and Michael Dooley (29) and his nephew Thomas Dooley Jnr (21), all from Cork. All five were given mandatory life sentences.
Verona Murphy: Motion of confidence in Ceann Comhairle passed in Dáil
High Court awards former Limerick hurler €950,000 over injuries sustained working for Johnson & Johnson
The underlying problem of boyhood is manhood
‘Ireland is a beautiful country. And for all the weirdness, I find the people to be really helpful’
Ms Justice Ring adjourned the sentencing of the teenager to consider the penalty, after the higher courts ruled judges could depart from the mandatory life term where the crime is committed by a juvenile, even if they have become adults by the time they are sentenced.
On Monday Ms Justice Ring recalled how the deceased Tom Dooley and his wife, Siobhan and their four youngest children were attacked by six men armed with weapons while attending the funeral. Mr Dooley suffered fatal slash and chop wounds to his thigh and his back.
She said that there were a number of aggravating factors to the case, including that the attack was premeditated in that the accused had travelled from Cork with older men, and he took part knowing that Mr Dooley was with his wife and four young children.
There were also mitigating factors, including the fact that he was a teenager in the company of older men, he had no previous convictions at the time of the offence, and he had shown remorse in a letter that he had written to the court.
In a lengthy judgment, Ms Justice Ring said the Supreme Court had noted there were a number of important factors to be considered when sentencing a juvenile for murder, namely their vulnerability to negative influences from older persons and their greater prospect for rehabilitation because of their age.
The issue of lesser culpability of a juvenile also made it appropriate to impose a significantly shorter sentence than would be imposed in the case of an adult, and the imposition of a full mandatory life sentence should only be imposed on a juvenile in exceptional circumstances.
She said that she did not believe that this case met the exceptional level, as she noted the accused’s remorse, his lack of previous convictions and the fact that he was associating with older accused.
She noted that aggravating factors included that the accused had almost reached the age of majority at 18 and had brought weapons with him to the attack, while mitigating factors included that he was under the influence of older persons, his remorse and empathy and his lack of previous convictions.
She said she believed that the appropriate sentence was one of 11 years, but she would suspend the final three years to take account of the fact that she believed the accused posed no threat to the community, and she wanted to provide a structure to encourage his rehabilitation.
