TWO BROTHERS WHO carried out a “savage, cold-blooded and cowardly” assault on a 55-year-old man who died 13 days after he was attacked have been jailed for a combined 12 years.
At the Central Criminal Court last August, a trial jury, which had deliberated for 14 hours, returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty of murder for both Ian (34) and Daniel (43) Connaghan.
However, the jury of seven men and five women found Ian Connaghan guilty of manslaughter and Daniel Connaghan guilty of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Michael ‘Mick’ Mulvey in 2019.
The brothers, both of Ashington Rise, Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Mulvey on the Navan Road, close to the Phoenix Park.
A number of eyewitnesses in the case gave evidence that Mr Mulvey, who was very slight in stature, stood less than 5’ 3” tall and weighed less than ten stone, did not fight back against his taller attackers.
At the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Paul Burns sentenced Ian Connaghan to nine years’ imprisonment with the final year suspended for three years for the manslaughter of Mr Mulvey.
Mr Justice Burns then sentenced Daniel Connaghan to five years’ imprisonment with the final year suspended for three years for the offence of assault causing serious harm to Mr Mulvey. The judge said Daniel Connaghan could consider himself “very lucky” to avoid a guilty verdict of manslaughter.
Mr Mulvey, a welder, died on November 27, 2019, almost two weeks after he suffered injuries during two beatings on November 14, 2019.
The court heard that on November 14, 2019, Ian Connahan was incensed following an encounter at a pedestrian crossing when Mr Mulvey and his partner, Pauline Matthews, were driving home from Tesco on the Navan Road and the defendant walked out in front of the deceased’s car.
Words were exchanged, during which Ian Connaghan said he would kill Mr Mulvey and burn his house down.
After the incident, Ian Connaghan then accosted Mr Mulvey near his home and proceeded to punch and kick the deceased a number of times before leaving him on the ground in Dublin’s Darling Estate.
Prior to this initial beating, Ian Connaghan phoned his older brother, Daniel, who immediately left the Ashington Rise estate, where both brothers lived and made his way by car to meet his sibling.
The pair again sought out Mr Mulvey and, within minutes of the first assault, the two brothers subjected the out-of-work builder to a sustained attack over several minutes on a traffic island hear the Halfway House pub in the middle of the busy Navan Road, punching and kicking him in the head and stomach as passing motorists watched on.
In passing sentence today, Mr Justice Burns said the Connaghan brothers had carried out a “cowardly and cold-blooded” attack on Mr Mulvey. The judge commended the victim’s family and that of Mr Mulvey’s long-term partner Pauline Matthews for the dignity they showed during an “extremely difficult” time.
In outlining the case, Mr Justice Burns said that eight months before the day of the two attacks, Ian Connaghan had been barred from the Halfway House pub and that this had added to an existing animosity between Ian Connaghan and Mr Mulvey.
Mr Justice Burns said that after the first attack by Ian Connaghan, Mr Mulvey had been left on the ground and had “offered not much, if any, resistance” in defending himself from a “one-sided” assault by a taller, younger man.
Minutes later, Mr Mulvey was attacked by both brothers at a traffic island outside of the pub. Mr Mulvey then went into the pub “bloodied and beaten” and sought assistance from his partner and a friend.
Mr Justice Burns said Mr Mulvey and Ms Matthews returned home and went to bed. During the night, Mr Mulvey took a taxi to Blanchardstown Hospital for his injuries, which were found to be fractures around his eye, bruising to his torso and two fractured ribs on the deceased’s right side that punctured a lung.
Mr Justice Burns said that after receiving appointments for treatment and being discharged, Mr Mulvey was resting at home and that, “outwardly, he appeared to be recovering”.
Mr Mulvey told gardaí he did not wish to make a formal complaint and Ian Connaghan said there would be no more trouble between the two men.
Around the time of his death, Mr Mulvey, according to his partner, Ms Matthews, appeared to be struggling with his breathing and had a cold.
On the morning of his death, Ms Matthews woke up to find Mr Mulvey deceased next to her, even though he had gotten up in the morning and returned to bed before intending to go to a job interview.
The jury heard the view of State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers who said that Mr Mulvey’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the chest, with ischemic heart disease as a contributory factor.
Dr Okkers found that the deceased’s right ribs had been fractured, that there was 800ml of blood in his lungs and there was air escaping into the chest cavity
However, the defence obtained a report from Professor Jack Crane, who found that the cause of death was ischemic heart disease.
The Director of Public Prosecutions had also sought an opinion from UK pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton, who said that, in his view, Mr Mulvey had ischemic heart disease but that he would not have died but for the rib fractures.
Mr Justice Burns said culpability in the taking of another life had to be taken into consideration when sentencing Ian Connaghan and noted that the prosecution had sought to place this defendant in the 10-15 years’ imprisonment band for manslaughter
Mr Justice Burns noted the defendant had attacked Mr Mulvey at two different locations and that both assaults continued while the deceased was on the ground.
The judge said that the first attack by Ian Connaghan had been “one-sided” and that Mr Mulvey had not fought back while the second attack was “cowardly and vicious”.
Mr Justice Burns fixed a headline sentence of 11 years for Ian Connaghan and granted a reduction of two years in mitigation for admissions relating to the attacks, his personal circumstances and the fact he has no previous significant convictions
The judge said that even though an apology on behalf of Ian Connaghan had been read out in court, the remorse shown by the accused had been “limited”.
Mr Justice Burns then suspended the final year of the nine-year sentence for three years in the interests of rehabilitation.
When sentencing Daniel Connaghan for assault causing serious harm to Mr Mulvey, Mr Justice Bruns said the accused could consider himself “very lucky” that he avoided a conviction for manslaughter.
Mr Justice Burns said that while the attack was “vicious in nature”, it occurred over a “relatively short period of time” and no weapon had been used.
Mr Justice Burns noted that Daniel Connaghan had previously acted as a “peace-maker” between his younger brother and Mr Mulvey but had shown “no restraint” as a “willing participant” in the two incidents.
The judge said that the evidence at the trial had shown that Daniel Connaghan had expressed on social media “that he [Daniel Connaghan] was happy or even proud of the attack”, even though he had been “dragged into this matter by his brother”.
The judge fixed seven years’ imprisonment as a headline sentence for Daniel Connaghan before reducing that by two years in mitigation. Mr Justice Burns then suspended the last year of that sentence for three years in the interest of rehabilitation.
In Ian Connaghan’s case, the jury were satisfied that his actions caused Mr Mulvey’s death but were not satisfied that he had the requisite intent for murder.
No verdict was recorded in relation to Ian Connaghan regarding the two assault charges, with a similar no verdict recorded for Daniel Connaghan for the charge of assault causing harm.
Victim Impact Statement
In September, Gerry Mulvey, the brother of the deceased, read out a victim impact statement on behalf of the family. He said that just days after his brother’s 55th birthday, Michael Mulvey was “savagely assaulted” by the two men.
“To this day, they have not shown a single shred of remorse,” he said.
“Not a day passes without one of us having to pass the spot where his life was taken,” he said.
The partner of the deceased, Pauline Matthews gave a victim impact statement, in which she said that she missed Michael as a loving partner with whom she did everything.
“I miss him beside me every night,” she said, telling the court that she is now on medication to deal with her fear and anxiety.
Defence counsel for Ian Connaghan, Garnet Orange SC, said that his client had written a letter of apology, in which he said he was “truly and deeply remorseful”.
“Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about this altercation. I cannot change what happened, if I could, I would,” Mr Orange told the court Ian Connaghan had said.
Counsel for Daniel Connaghan Garret Baker SC said that his client had expressed shock at Mr Mulvey’s death and “wishes he had stayed at home on the evening”.
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