Man who killed Kilkenny dad is jailed for 13 years 6 months by High Court

A killer who beat a man to death in his own home should welcome the jury's "charitable and merciful" manslaughter verdict "like a drowning man clinging to a life raft", a High Court judge has said.

As he sentenced Garret Smith to 13 years and six months today (Monday), Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that the deceased, Edward 'Liam' O'Sullivan, was killed in his home where he was entitled to feel safe.

The court heard that such were Mr O'Sullivan's injuries, his family only recognised him by his tattoo and a closed coffin was needed for his funeral.

Mr Justice Hunt said the jury in the trial had been "charitable and merciful" in finding Smith not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter on the basis that he was too intoxicated to have intended to kill the deceased. 

The judge noted that the accused had said he "accepts" the jury verdict but Mr Justice Hunt added: "He should welcome it like a drowning man clinging to a life raft. How he could expect anything less than that, if he did expect such an outcome, is not perceived by me on the basis of the facts."

Garrett Smith (35), St John’s Park, Waterford denied the murder of Edward O’Sullivan, also known as Liam, in Mr O’Sullivan’s apartment in Kilkenny.  

Smith stood trial and was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. He was also found guilty of violent disorder, at High Hayes Terrace, Kilkenny in the early hours of February 6, 2020.  

Before passing sentence today (MON) Mr Justice Hunt said that Smith and others had been drinking for about 18 hours and Smith was probably abusing prescription medication. He was seen on CCTV at about 3am with Mr O'Sullivan at a Circle K garage where Smith was "repeatedly and visibly stumbling around the garage forecourt".

Smith went to Mr O'Sullivan's apartment where there were several visitors engaging in "noisy socialising and drinking," the judge said. There was a violent outbreak which prompted Mr O'Sullivan to produce a knife and tell everyone to leave. He put the knife down but a "violent disorder flared up again" on the street with Smith again involved. Smith then reentered the apartment and inflicted the fatal injuries on his victim.

Rebecca Walsh told the trial that she saw Smith stamping repeatedly on Mr O'Sullivan's head and face and punching him. She said his face was badly swollen and bleeding and he was making a gurgling sound. 

Ms Walsh said she heard Smith say, “You’re a big man now without your friends.” She said she tried to intervene, but Smith threatened her that the same thing would happen to her.  
Mr Justice Hunt said he had to be circumspect about Ms Walsh's evidence because it is unlikely that the jury accepted everything she said. "If they did, a murder conviction might well have followed," he said.
What was not in doubt, he said, was that Smith inflicted the fatal injuries. 
The judge noted that Mr O'Sullivan lost many good years that he would be entitled to were it not for Smith's actions. His family has lost an important person and will have to live with the shock of his violent death and the trauma of the injuries he suffered. "Their lives are irrevocably scarred and changed by the violence of Mr Smith," he said.

He added: "I also recognise that the sentence will be cold comfort to the deceased’s family because no such sentence can ever be proportionate to the sense of loss and shock that follows from the loss from violent events like these. But that is simply the way the law and human affairs are."

This case, he said, fell into the lower end of the worst cases for manslaughter. While he had not used a weapon, Mr Justice Hunt said the accused had "availed himself of the liberal use of his feet, dangerous weapons in themselves especially when he was so intoxicated that he didn't have the ability to form an intent."

Mr Justice Hunt said he took into account that the accused left the apartment along with everyone else when told to do so but "unlike everyone else opted to return to confront Mr O'Sullivan. The fact his judgment was clouded by intoxicants does not alter this particular fact." 

The violent disorder shortly before returning to the apartment was an aggravating factor, the judge said, and he passed a six-year concurrent sentence for that offence.

Mr Justice Hunt said intoxication reduced the verdict of murder to manslaughter and was therefore already a mitigating factor and could not be counted again as a mitigating factor for sentencing. He quoted a judgment of the Supreme Court which states: "The culpability associated with killing another person by getting oneself into such a state where there are predicted consequences of labile emotions and violence, can be reflected in the sentence."

Mr Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of 16 years but considered Smith's offer of a plea to manslaughter after the trial had begun along with testaments written by Smith's partner and employer. These showed, he said, that "Mr Smith is not an entirely bad person when sober".
Smith's claims of remorse, he said "ring a little hollow" and he noted that Smith still says he has no memory of what happened. He accepted that the killing was "wholly out of character" but added that Smith's previous convictions mean that his record is not unblemished.
Having considered all factors, he sentenced Smith to 14 years and six months with the final 12 months suspended. Smith will have to engage with probation services and deal with his alcohol, drug and anger issues, he said.

Evidence
At a sentencing hearing in November the court heard that Mr O'Sullivan had his head stamped to such an extent that his injuries were akin to a traffic accident. 
Inspector James O’Brien told the sentencing hearing that the deceased, who was 46 at the time of his death, was found lying in a pool of blood just inside the door of his apartment. He had very serious facial injuries and was treated at the scene by emergency services, with CPR administered when he stopped breathing.   

There was a large amount of blood on the floor and blood splattering on the wall of the apartment.  
The accused was arrested a short distance away with blood on his clothing and footwear. He was intoxicated and was arrested on a charge of assault causing harm.

  
Insp O’Brien confirmed that on the previous evening, there had been a number of people present in the home of the deceased, and there was evidence of alcohol consumption by all parties.   
Insp O’Brien said that at some point, a row broke out that developed into a physical altercation. The focus of this altercation involved the accused, the deceased, and others. One person gave evidence that he struck Smith over the head with a saucepan, and there was some punching and wrestling.  
The altercation quieted down and ended, and Mr O’Sullivan asked everyone to leave his home.   
A further altercation involving Smith took place outside the apartment and the person who had previously struck Smith gave evidence that he then broke a brush over Smith’s head and kicked him. Smith then left the group, and Ms Rebecca Walsh gave evidence that she went back into the apartment to find him. When she went inside, she saw Mr O’Sullivan on the ground badly injured. She said she saw Smith stamping repeatedly on Mr O’Sullivan’s head and face and punching him. Mr O’Sullivan’s face was badly swollen and bleeding, and he was making a gurgling sound, she said.  
Ms Walsh said she heard Smith say, “You’re a big man now without your friends.” She said she tried to intervene, but Smith threatened her that the same thing would happen to her.  
Insp O’Brien’s evidence went on to outline that Smith and Ms Walsh had been drinking since 11am the previous day, first in the pub and then by the river, before they went to Mr O’Sullivan’s apartment with alcohol.  
State pathologist, Dr Heidi Okkers told the trial that Mr O’Sullivan suffered damage to his abdomen, broken ribs, and multiple bone injuries including damage to the skull, nose, and jawbone. He suffered internal bleeding and asphyxiation, as well as a traumatic brain injury. Dr Okkers described the brain injury as being akin to a road traffic accident. She said that any of the injuries could have been fatal. 
A technical examination showed that the pattern of blood spray on Smith’s clothes was consistent with him standing over Mr O’Sullivan stamping on him with his right foot.   
When interviewed by gardaí, Smith said that the last thing he remembered was leaving the flat.  
Smith had eight previous convictions, including one for section 2 assault back in 2009.  
Pauline Farrell, a former partner of Mr O’Sullivan's, gave a victim impact statement to the court.  
“I’ve never been through anything so traumatic in my life. The kids are barely coping, and I’m trying to hold it together,” said Ms Farrell.  
“It was so traumatic seeing that blood and all the bloody footprints. Even if I see a footprint in the ground from the rain, I get flashbacks.”  
She said that the family had to have a closed coffin due to the injuries Mr O’Sullivan suffered.  
“To this day, the kids are asking “How do you know daddy was in the coffin?” Life will never be the same,” said Ms Farrell. “How can a human being go so far as to do this to another person?”  
“He did not want to or deserve to die the way he did. Our kids now have to grow up without a father.”  
Mr Justice Hunt told the witness he was very sorry for her and her family.  
“This is a senseless way to lose somebody,” he said.  

A further victim impact statement, that of Lisa Whelan, was read out by prosecution counsel on behalf of the O’Sullivan family. She said that the family’s lives have been changed forever.  
 

“Liam was unrecognisable, and we could only tell it was him by the tattoo on his arm,” said Ms Whelan.  

“We will never have closure; the pain never goes away. We just have to live with it, and we think about Liam every day,” she said.