A young man killed a pensioner with a kick that caused him to fall to the ground and suffer a fatal head injury, a Dublin court has heard.
Joshua Rush (25) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Charles McCaughley (69) at Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3, on June 7th, 2021.
Shortly before the incident, Charles McCaughley had ordered fish and chips from a takeaway where staff said he “was in good form”, Det Sgt David Ennis told prosecuting barrister Diana Stuart on Tuesday.
Another witness who was waiting for a bus told gardaí that he saw three youths passing an older man as he walked along Fairview Strand. He said he saw one of the young men – Rush – employ a “back spin kick like MMA” on the older man, causing him to fall on his back.
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The trio left the scene and were seen entering accommodation nearby.
When the witness ran to his assistance, McCaughley was unconscious and there was blood coming from his mouth. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, but his condition deteriorated over the next few weeks and he died on June 26th, 2021.
A postmortem carried out by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster found the cause of death was traumatic brain injury due to a significant fall on the back of the head.
Rush, with an address at Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3, had no previous convictions, the court heard.
He was arrested a couple of days after the assault after gardaí made inquiries at the Fairview accommodation he was seen entering.
Rush told gardaí that the old man said he “wanted to send [him] to Jesus” and spat at him. Rush also alleged his victim said he wanted to “bend [Rush] over”.
When asked about the kick, Rush said he was acting in self-defence. The court heard this was accepted by gardaí.
He told gardaí he had a difficult family background and that his father was physically abusive.
The court heard that the deceased had one surviving sister and no wife or children. His sister did not wish to make a victim impact statement, but told gardaí she did not want anyone to go to jail.
Under questioning from defending barrister Ronan Kennedy, Ennis agreed that Rush took responsibility for his actions. He agreed with a defence assertion that Rush was generally a “quiet, shy, non-aggressive, pleasant fellow” and his actions that night were out of character.
Kennedy said the deceased had been drinking on the night in question, which “may have led to instability at the time he was kicked”.
Judge Martina Baxter adjourned the case to April 20th to allow for gardaí to find out more about the deceased man’s background, noting it was important that the court have a fuller picture of his life.
A plea of mitigation will be heard on the next date, as well as an assessment from the Director of Public Prosecutions as to what range Rush’s sentence should fall under. The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment.
