A CORK man who was given a suspended sentence for manslaughter has been jailed for three years, after having his sentence reactivated for breaching the terms of his probation.
Patrick Lynch (30) was given a 12-year suspended sentence in 2007 after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of his brother Peter Lynch jnr (27) in August 2006. He was stabbed six times in the chest and leg.
Mr Justice Barry White suspended the final nine years of the sentence on condition that Lynch enter into a bond of good behaviour and comply with the advice of the probation services in relation to alcohol and drug use.
The judge said he was giving a lenient sentence primarily out of concern for Lynch’s mother, who had already lost one son.
Lynch was released from jail in November 2009 after serving the three-year custodial portion of the sentence.
He was arrested again in July 2010 after crashing into a parked car while driving drunk in Cork city.
He pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody by Cork Circuit Court to the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, where he appeared yesterday before Mr Justice White.
Isobel Kennedy SC, prosecuting, requested that the court reactivate the suspended portion of his manslaughter sentence.
Det Sgt Vincent O’Sullivan told the court that at the time of the drink-driving incident, Lynch was driving with stolen tax, insurance and NCT discs. He also left the scene immediately after the crash. Det Sgt O’Sullivan said Lynch had 72 previous convictions, including one for dangerous driving causing death in 1997.
Blaise O’Carroll, for Lynch, told the court there were “extenuating circumstances”. Kelly Hourican, Lynch’s girlfriend, said Lynch had been driving to her aid because she had been threatened in the city centre and was very shaken.
“I showed you a high degree of leniency when you pleaded guilty to manslaughter . . . ” Mr Justice White said to Lynch. “It seems to me that you do not appreciate the significance of the suspended aspect of the sentence.”
He jailed Lynch for three years, backdating the sentence to July 2010. The final six years of the sentence remain in place and the judge said he would activate that if Lynch did “not mend his ways”.