Five-year sentence for Kerry teleporter manslaughter to be appealed

The sentence handed down to Kerry dairy farmer Michael Ferris for the manslaughter of a neighbouring tillage farmer is to be appealed on the grounds of undue leniency.

The family of the late Anthony O’ Mahony has been highly critical of the five-year jail term imposed by Ms Justice Carmel Stewart earlier this month. The jail term is backdated to April 2017 when Ferris was taken into custody, which the family says means in effect he could be out of jail in just over two years.

They made a lengthy submission to the DPP outlining their deep dissatisfaction.

Ferris went on trial for murder in October at a Central Criminal Court sitting in Tralee. He denied murder but admitted killing the tillage farmer. He was found guilty of manslaughter by majority verdict, and not guilty of murder.

The trial in Tralee heard how on the morning of April 4th he blocked the road to the ancient tower of Rattoo with his teleporter, and when Anthony O’Mahony arrived as usual from his home in nearby Ardoughter to turn on a crow banger, to protect his spring wheat, Ferris got into his teleporter. lifting the tillage farmer’s car off the road and ramming it several times with the prongs of the teleporter.

The body of the late Anthony O’Mahony had been pierced several times, and gardaí who arrived described a horrific scene.

No application was made by the prosecution for the destruction of the teleporter, which is still being held by gardaí.

The DPP has now directed the sentence handed down by Ms Justice Carmel Stewart be looked at by the court of of Criminal Appeal.

The Courts Service has confirmed the DPP has lodged an appeal against undue leniency , and the matter will go before the three-judge court.