Stabbing victim's family says no sentence would be long enough

THE FAMILY of a young man killed during an argument with a friend in Irishtown, Dublin last year said yesterday that “no sentence would be enough”.

Speaking outside Cloverhill Court, Barry Young, brother of the deceased, said: “No sentence would have been enough for what happened to Alan . . . they took our baby brother away and that’s it.”

He was speaking after the sentencing of Mark Green (20), of Tritonville Road, Sandymount, Dublin, to eight years in prison for the manslaughter of Alan Young (19), George Reynolds House, Ringsend, near Bremen Road, Irishtown, Dublin, on March 11th last year.

Almost a dozen members of the Young family and supporters, many of them sobbing, stood outside the court after the sentence was given. Some held photographs of the 19-year-old, including one of him playing football during one of his two caps for Ireland at schoolboy level.

Mr Young’s oldest sister said: “I was very proud of him. I am the eldest girl. Even looking at him playing his football, I adored the ground he walked on and I haven’t got the luxury now to see him for his 21st birthday.”

Mr Young’s mother said: “He meant the world to us and it is so hard to take, too hard to take it altogether.”

On behalf of Mr Young’s family, Barry Young thanked the Director of Public Prosecutions for the right decision at the start. He thanked their supporters, friends, family neighbours and community, as well as two local priests who “helped us get through this difficult time”. He also thanked Mr Young’s school.

On Tuesday, members of the Young family gave a victim-impact statement to the court in which his sisters described the devastation and loss their family had experienced, and described Mr Young as a “beautiful young man whose smile would light up any room”.