Two Cork men have lost their appeals against their convictions for the murder of a young man who was beaten up in a lane in the city.
The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday dismissed the appeals by Paul Sheehan (22), of The Glen, Cork, and Ross Stapleton (22), also of The Glen.
Both had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Christian Scully (28), of Togher, Cork, on October 17th, 2002.
Mr Scully was on a life-support machine after being set upon by the two men at Sober Lane in the city centre early on January 28th. He suffered a cardiac arrest nine months later, and died on October 17th, 2002.
During the nine-day trial in May 2004 at the Central Criminal Court the jury heard that the two kicked and beat Mr Scully after a day-long drinking session.
The court heard Stapleton told gardaí that Mr Scully "put up resistance for 10 minutes. He was a strong bloke."
Rejecting the appeals, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, presiding at the three-judge court, said the murder was a totally unprovoked attack which took place outside a nightclub in Cork city. It was "yet another glaring example of where the Irish drink culture leads people".
This was "another dreadful example" of where uncontrolled drinking leads young people when they drink to excess.
The attack was apparently motiveless and meaningless, and was part of the "endemic social cancer in our midst - of excessive consumption of alcohol".
He said the court was satisfied the trial judge, Mr Justice Paul Butler, had not erred in law in his charge to the jury, and dismissed the appeals.