Man charged with manslaughter of homeless chef in Cork

A 22-year-old man was remanded in custody on Saturday after he was charged with the manslaughter of a homeless man in Cork city earlier this month.

Daniel O'Sullivan appeared at a special sitting of Cork District Court this morning where he was charged with the manslaughter of French man Vincent Morgain (37).

Mr O'Sullivan, with an address at Carrowkeel in Mallow, is charged with unlawfully killing Mr Morgain on Lower Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork on September 10th.

A native of Brittany, Mr Morgain died in the Mercy University Hospital on September 15th following injuries sustained in the assault.

Garda Bryan Murphy gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told the court that Mr O'Sullivan replied "There's not much I can say to the charge" when it was put to him.

Insp John Deasy said gardaí were objecting to bail and Garda Murphy outlined the state objections including the belief that Mr O'Sullivan would abscond and not stand trial if granted bail, that he would interfere with witnesses who were known to him and because of the seriousness of the charge.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke said that his client was seeking bail and he put it to Garda Murphy that Mr O'Sullivan had been at liberty until Thursday and Garda Murphy agreed.

He said Mr O’Sullivan knew who some of the witnesses were in the case and had not gone near them or interfered with them since the incident and Garda Murphy agreed that was true.

Mr Burke said that his client, who in addition to being a recovering heroin addict, also had a chronic alcohol problem, was willing to abide by a curfew and to stay away from Cork city.

However Judge Olann Kelleher said that it was a serious charge and he refused bail and remanded Mr O'Sullivan in custody to appear in court again on Thursday by video link.

Mr Morgain had worked as a chef in Killarney but had been living with the Simon Community in Cork in recent times after leaving Co Kerry.

Members of his family, who had travelled to Ireland when they heard he was critical in hospital and gave permission for his organs to be harvested, attended Saturday's brief hearing at the Washington Street Courthouse in Cork.