A homeless man who tied up, beat and kicked a "good Samaritan" who had helped him get accommodation, before leaving him to die, has been jailed for 10 years at the Central Criminal Court with the final 18 months suspended.
Kenneth Parker (37), King Street, Cobh, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 40-year-old SeáTwomey at his flat on Tyrconnell Road, Inchicore, Dublin, on February 21st, 2004.
He and two friends had been drinking and arrived at the house after Parker got it into his head that Mr Twomey was pulling "some sort of fast one on him".
Parker beat Mr Twomey on a number of occasions and tied him up with a tie before leaving a note written on a shoebox, in which he apologised for the crime. Passing sentence Mr Justice Paul Carney said there was "absolutely no basis in fact" for Parker's belief that Mr Twomey was conning him over the housing cheque.
"The accused was a man with a drinking problem who was homeless and Seán Twomey, the deceased, assisted the accused in getting a room on account of the fact the accused was illiterate and the deceased assisted him in filling in the various forms, particularly for rent allowance," he said.
He said he also did not take any mitigation from the fact that Parker had left a note behind, when he had left the victim alone to die.
The note read: "Sorry about the box, I hope you're OK. Sorry couldn't talk to you last night. Talk to you soon, your friend Ken." Mr Twomey's body was found 48 hours later and State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy found he had been dead for some time. He had 11 separate marks on his head and body, four broken ribs and there was evidence a ligature had been applied to his arm.
Dr Cassidy also found a mark on the victim's neck suggesting some degree of strangulation. Mr Justice Carney said he took account of evidence from Mr Twomey's brother, Michael, who said what bothered him the most was that Parker and the other two men didn't do anything to help his brother.
He said he did not think any particular mitigation should be taken from the fact that the deceased had a previous head injury as a result of a road traffic accident and was therefore more vulnerable to injury from the attack than anyone else.
The sentence was backdated to the date of his arrest on June 25th, 2004. Leave to appeal was refused.
Speaking outside the court, Mr Twomey's 18-year-old son Keith said: "He was a good man. It was very hard just to hear what happened."