THE SOLICITOR for a Kerry youth who died accidentally, and who has been described as one of the main suspects in the murder last year of a 17-year-old Killarney teenager, has stressed at his funeral that he died an innocent man.
Solicitor Pádraig O’Connell said Shane Regan (18), from Drumkerry, Fossa, Killarney, who died in hospital after a fall in a house in Tralee last week, was entitled to his good name in death, as in life.
Mr O’Connell was speaking at Mr Regan’s funeral Mass at the Prince of Peace Church, Fossa, on Sunday. He said this was an unusual step for him, but that he was doing so at the request of Mr Regan’s parents, Maurice and Martina, and brother Gary.
“Shane was in a very black place when I met him, and I want to make it quite clear he has died an innocent man, without a conviction or a stain on his character,” Mr O’Connell told the congregation. “Further, there wasn’t even a pending prosecution,” he said from the pulpit. “I believed him and I believed in him, and to those who did, I give them credit, and for those who did not, that’s a matter for themselves.”
Garda sources confirmed Mr Regan was one of five youths arrested and questioned after the fatal knife attack on Stefan Lyne near Mr Lyne’s home in Killarney last year, and that Mr Regan was a suspect.
Mr Regan sustained serious head injuries after falling down a stairs in a house in Tralee last Wednesday. After being on life support for some hours, he died on Thursday at Kerry general.