Victim's father tells court of disappointment with sentence

He father of a woman who was beaten to death by her husband said he had not received justice after the husband received an eight…

He father of a woman who was beaten to death by her husband said he had not received justice after the husband received an eight-year sentence for manslaughter.

Mr Simon Cleere told the Central Criminal Court his family had been left to deal with the consequences of the killing. He made his comments after Mr Justice Finnegan invited him to address the court after sentence.

The judge said the sentence was bound by a verdict of manslaughter rather than murder.

Hennessy (37), of Killaloe, Callan, Co Kilkenny, killed Marie Hennessy after he confessed to her that he had been suspended from his job as manager of Callan social welfare office.

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The Central Criminal Court heard that Hennessy had been embezzling cash from the office for years. Officers from the Department of Social Welfare suspended him from his job three days before the killing.

Mr Justice Finnegan noted that Hennessy had killed his wife only feet from their two young daughters, who were in her car.

He accepted the jury's finding that Hennessy had suffered a temporary and total loss of control at the time of the killing but said the provocation that led to the attack appeared to be "of a very low level".

Hennessy had suffered very severe stress but he was the author of his condition because he was responsible for embezzling money from the social welfare. He added that the couple had enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, but Marie Hennessy was not to know of her husband's embezzlement.

He accepted that Hennessy was very remorseful and that he had very little to look forward to when he was released from prison.

A consultant psychiatrist, Prof Patricia Casey, had earlier told the court that Hennessy was not suffering from any mental illness.

He was extremely remorseful and did not seem to care that the jury had passed a manslaughter rather than a murder verdict.

"All that mattered to him was that he had killed his wife," Prof Casey said.