Man jailed over death of former soccer player injured during dispute over bag of cans

A 40-year-old who assaulted another man in Limerick city during a dispute over a bag containing cans of alcohol has been jailed for seven years with the final year suspended.

Michael Casey, of Cathedral Place, Limerick city, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Alan Bourke (48), of St Mary’s Park, who died following an assault on Parnell Street in the city on April 15th, 2022.

Mr Bourke, a former Republic of Ireland junior soccer player who once managed a tool hire business, had fallen on hard times due to struggles with alcohol, the court heard. He and a friend left sheltered accommodation in Limerick on the night of his death to go begging to get money to buy alcohol.

CCTV footage played to the court showed Mr Bourke wheeling his bicycle and a suitcase containing clothes and a sleeping bag as he went to meet his friend. He had purchased 10 cans of beer before being accosted by Casey and others.

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Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, said Casey struck Mr Bourke with a “violent and aggressive blow” after another man who was in the defendant’s company had allegedly taken his bag of alcohol and refused to give it back. Mr Bourke fell backwards and hit his head off the pavement, the CCTV footage showed.

Counsel said Casey and the others “callously” walked away with Mr Bourke’s bike and bag of beer cans.

A postmortem found that Mr Bourke suffered a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage following the fall.

After his arrest, Casey told gardaí: “It was an accident, I was friends with Alan, we laughed and cried together. I hit him, I was drunk, he was drunk...I’m really sorry, and sorry to his family.”

A victim impact statement written by Mr Bourke’s sister Diane, stated: “Alan had the biggest heart and was the apple of his late mother’s eye. We try to remember how he lived and not how he died.”

Judge Dermot Sheehan said Mr Bourke had excelled at sport but was vulnerable in late life, experiencing homelessness around the time of his death.

Judge Sheehan said Casey should have been “forewarned” about the serious consequences of committing crime after he had been convicted over a 2015 burglary at the home of a man (62) who suffered a fatal heart attack during the incident.