A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to six years in prison for the manslaughter of a 14-year-old Traveller boy in Ennis almost two years ago.
John McGovern (19), of Ballyduff, Barefield, Ennis killed Michael Doherty of Ashline, Ennis, on June 23rd, 2007 with the Swiss army knife his grandparents gave him. He was convicted after a trial last month. Today he also received a concurrent three-year sentence for producing a knife during the course of a fight.
McGovern, who was 17 at the time, was out celebrating the end of his Leaving Cert exams, when he responded to being punched by the teenaged boxer outside Supermac’s on O’Connell Street.
McGovern told gardai the victim threatened him when he arrived at the restaurant, that he tried to push past him, but the deceased hit him four times.
“I took out a knife and swung it at him,” he said, insisting he meant only to scare the boy, saying he was afraid of being beaten up by Mr Doherty and his friends. He agreed it would have been better to walk away.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said it was the experience of his court that those who carried knives ended up using them with fatal consequences.
“Possession of the knife in this case was not sinister in itself,” he said. “It was a gift, which would have been useful on a farm, and which had been used innocently earlier to open bottles.”
He said there was deliberation, however brief, in the accused taking it out of his pocket, opening it and using it to inflict the fatal wound.
Mr Justice Carney said it was the latest incident of what the defendant’s mother, Carmel McGovern, had described as “40 seconds of out-of-character behaviour that has ruined the lives of two families”. However he said that was no defence and no mitigation.
“It was the senseless loss of a 14-year-old life, which had great potential, causing loss and suffering to the Doherty family,” he said.
He pointed out that by reason of his father’s occupation as a garda, the teenager was serving his sentence under protection in the form of 23-hour lock-up. “He’s using this situation to continue his studies,” he said, referring to the science degree he began at NUI Galway, while awaiting his trial.
His mother said her family had also received anonymous letters in the post, gloating that it was now their turn to face the courts. She said there were difficulties for her other children returning to school. One principal said he could not guarantee her daughter’s safety in his school.
The judge took into account the defendant’s youth, previous good character, and exceptional testimonials handed in on his behalf. He said that after a shaky start, he was now expressing remorse.
He also noted that the accused offered to plead guilty to manslaughter in his murder trial, where he had proved that he did not intend to kill or cause serious injury to Michael Doherty.
However he said that such conduct required to be stigmatised. “He entered what he viewed as a fraught situation equipped with a knife,” he said, suggesting that the death of a young man by being knifed by the accused required an eight-year sentence.
However, he imposed a six-year sentence due to the mitigating circumstances he mentioned.
Afterwards the victim’s uncle, Tom Sherlock, said justice had been done with the sentence that had been imposed, but said the Doherty family had been dealt a life sentence. He said the family bore no malice towards the accused.
“There’s no winner in this. Everybody’s a loser,” he said. “No mother wants to go through what either of these mothers have gone through.”
“He was just an amazing kid, warm, always happy, full of life, full of joy,” he said of his nephew. He said his death had been extremely tough on his parents, Nora and John, who never thought such a tragedy would ever visit their door.
“It’s unreal. You never expect it,” he said.
“The only thing we hope would come from this is that no-one goes out around the streets carrying a knife,” he said. “There’s no need for it. Life is too precious."