Judgment was reserved by the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday on an appeal against sentence by a man who was jailed for 10 years for the manslaughter of a 19-year-old who was attacked and beaten in a Dublin suburb.
The appeal was taken by Stephen Aherne (20), formerly of Willington Crescent, Templeogue, Dublin, and now with an address at College Farm Park, Newbridge, Co Kildare. He was jailed for 10 years for his part in Brian Mulvaney's death in Templeogue on March 11th, 2000. A co-accused was jailed for life for murder.
Aherne also received a three-year concurrent sentence for two assaults in the hours preceding the fatal attack on Mr Mulvaney.
Two months after a jury convicted him of Mr Mulvaney's manslaughter, Aherne pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Matthew O'Dowd at Templeogue Road, Terenure, in March 2000. He also pleaded guilty to an assault in which he produced a drinking glass in a manner likely to intimidate Karl Dunne at Templeogue Road on the same date.
Last month, the court decided there had been an error in principle by the trial judge in the sentencing of Aherne on the manslaughter charge. It adjourned submissions as to what the sentence should be until this week.