Teenager convicted of manslaughter of Englishman
An 18-year-old alcoholic with learning difficulties was convicted today of the manslaughter of a 20-year-old after a drinking session in a field beside the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in September 2005.
The Central Criminal Court heard that the two had a row and that the accused’s girlfriend claimed it was because the deceased was English.
The deceased’s body lay undiscovered for two days before the girlfriend of the accused informed Gardaí.
Both the accused and his girlfriend had returned separately to the scene to see if the deceased was still alive.
The jury of five women and six men took two-and-a-half hours to return their unanimous verdict on the 16th day of the trial.
Kevin Walsh, Allenton Green, Tallaght, Dublin, who was 16 at the time of the killing, had pleaded not guilty to murdering James Burke between September 22 and 26, 2005 at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Clondalkin.
Mr Justice Philip O’Sullivan remanded Mr Walsh in custody and adjourned sentencing until December 4.
Defence counsel Mr Michael O’Higgins SC told the court that his client wished to 'truly apologise to the family of the Mr Burke and say that he realises the wrong he did and the grief he put them through'.
On the day of the killing, the victim’s uncle, David Hunt, dropped his nephew to the Square Shopping Centre and gave him €10 to buy cigarettes and to play in the arcade. He had not yet made any friends as he had only recently moved over from London to be with family and to 'start a new life'.
At the same time, Mr Walsh, an alcoholic with learning difficulties who had been expelled from a special needs school at the age of 14, was also making his way to the Square after spending the afternoon drinking with three friends at the back of the Old Mill Pub in Tallaght.
While standing outside the arcade, James Burke, whom he had never met before, approached him.
The deceased asked him whether the arcade was open 24 hours which led to them striking up a conversation. The deceased told Mr Walsh he was 'only after moving over' and that 'he didn’t know anybody'.
Mr Walsh took pity on him and invited him to go drinking with himself and his girlfriend. The two left to go to meet Lisa Brady in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre after buying a crate of Budweiser.
All three continued 'talking and drinking' in a field beside the Marks & Spencers’ car park. A row broke out some time later. Mr Walsh claimed the deceased started arguing with him because he spat alcohol on his hand.
After a short argument, he claimed the deceased pushed him but admitted he threw the first punch. The two were on the ground fighting before Mr Walsh got the upper-hand.
Mr Walsh then rang a friend to give him a lift. Ms Brady told the court that while dropping her off, Mr Walsh threatened her and told her not to say anything to anyone. The group in the car then returned to the car park but no one would go with him to see the deceased.
Mr Walsh made no reply to their urges to call an ambulance.
Later that evening, Mr Walsh got a lift back to the shopping centre on the pretext that he had forgotten his phone and wanted to pick it up. When he saw the body, he said he “nearly got sick on myself - he was still there where I had left him.”
After meeting the accused for the last time, Lisa Brady returned to the scene of her own accord the following day to see if he was still alive.
The following day Ms Brady told her father what happened before going to the Gardaí.
Mr Michael Dempsey, a clinical psychologist, told the court that Mr Walsh’s IQ was so low that he would have difficulty working out the consequences of his actions.
The Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis told the court the deceased died from ‘blunt force trauma’ to the brain which was ‘swollen uniformly'.
He said: “Had the deceased received prompt medical attention, it is possible that he might have been salvaged.”
He also said he could not exclude the possibility that the deceased received the fatal injury after falling to the ground during the course of the fight, nor could he exclude the possibility that the deceased sustained the injury while walking around in a disoriented state long after the fight had stopped.
Speaking after the verdict, Michael Sheehan, the victim’s uncle said he was glad they had gotten ‘some justice for James'.
He said he was a ‘happy go-lucky guy,’ who had moved to Ireland ‘to be near family and to make a change in his life. It turns out it was the wrong turn to take'.
