A 19-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to six years in prison for the manslaughter of a schoolboy in Ennis almost two years ago. He had been found guilty of the crime while being cleared of murder during a trial in February.
John McGovern, Ballyduff, Barefield, Ennis, Co Clare, killed 14-year-old Traveller Michael Doherty, Ashline, Ennis, on June 23rd, 2007, with the Swiss army knife his grandparents gave him.
He 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, whose father is a garda, told gardaí the victim threatened him when he arrived at the restaurant, that he tried to push past him, but that 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 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, Mr Justice Carney 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.
Mr Justice Carney 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 a 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, she said.
The judge took into account the man’s youth, previous good character and exceptional testimonials handed in on his behalf. Mr Justice Carney said that after a shaky start, the man was now expressing remorse.
He also noted that McGovern 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.