A DUBLIN man was jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court yesterday after he was convicted of the murder of a father of three in Ronanstown two years ago.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict in the trial of Anthony McLoughlin after two hours deliberation yesterday afternoon. They convicted McLoughlin (40), of Dolphin House, Dublin, of the murder of Mr Paschal Corcoran, also 40, of St Mark's Drive, Ronanstown, in Dublin on June 11th, 1994.
They also found him guilty of assaulting Mrs Marion Corcoran, wife of the deceased, in Dublin on June 9th, 1994.
Mr Justice Kinlen imposed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder. He imposed a one year sentence on the assault charge, to run concurrently.
The court was packed with neighbours and relatives of the deceased for the verdict, and the judge's sentence was greeted with loud applause. Relatives of the accused were also present.
The trial heard that Mr Corcoran was walking with his wife and daughter on a pathway near their home in St Mark's Drive on June 9th, 1994, when Mr Corcoran was struck by a car driven up on the pathway by McLoughlin.
Witnesses said Mr Corcoran fell on to the bonnet of the car and smashed the windscreen. They said he was carried on the bonnet for a short time before falling to the road.
He sustained head injuries and died two days later.
The State contended McLoughlin drove his car at Mr Corcoran in such a way that he intended "at least" to cause serious injury.
Mr Paul O'Higgins SC, prosecuting, said two witnesses heard McLoughlin say after the incident. "I hope the fat bastard is dead." Counsel said that comment reflected the defendant's state of mind at the time.
Witnesses also told the court they saw McLoughlin assault Mrs Marion Corcoran, wife of the deceased, immediately after the incident.
McLoughlin said he had set out "to scare", but had no intention of killing or causing serious injury to Mr Corcoran.
He accepted there was "bad blood" between his family and the family of Paschal Corcoran, and agreed he was in many ways the cause of it. He accepted he had struck Mr Corcoran with his car on June 9th, 1994, thereby causing his death two days later.
His intention was to scare the deceased, "to really give him a good scare", McLoughlin said. "I had no intention of killing anybody."
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, said Mr Corcoran died of swelling of the brain with subdural haemorrhage and fracturing of the skull due to an impact on the head.
He said the cause of death was that Mr Corcoran's head hit either the ground or the car. He agreed there was a deep graze on Mr Corcoran's thigh, and agreed the major impact to Mr Corcoran from whatever hit him appeared to have been on his right leg.