A young man who was found guilty of the murder of a father of seven who was killed in a cemetery in front of his wife and their four youngest children will find out in March if he is to receive a life sentence.

The teenager, who is now 19, is the first person to be sentenced for murder since the recent change in the law in relation to juveniles and life sentences.

A child who commits murder but turns 18 before sentencing no longer faces a mandatory life sentence under legislation approved by Cabinet last year.

Five men were jailed for life in July of last year for the murder of Thomas Dooley (43) from Ballyspillane in Killarney. He was killed whilst attending a burial at a cemetery with his wife Siobhan and their young children.

A postmortem examination revealed that Thomas Dooley received two stab wounds, one chop wound to the right arm which was over 25 centimetres in length and an incised wound to the right thigh. He also had blunt force injuries and bruising.

The juvenile was among the men involved in the attack.

The young man was remanded in custody for sentencing in March.

Thomas Dooley was set upon by the group of men, who were armed with weapons, when he went to Rath cemetery in Tralee for the funeral of a family friend on 5 October 2022.

Det Sgt Mark O’Sullivan gave an outline of the background to the case in court today. He confirmed that the juvenile was one of the men who set upon Thomas Dooley within a minute of his entering the cemetery to attend the funeral.

The five men who received the mandatory life sentence last year were the dead man’s 36-year-old brother, Patrick Dooley, of Arbutus Grove, Killarney, Co Kerry; his brother in law and cousin 43 year old Thomas Dooley Snr and his cousin, 21 year old Thomas Dooley Junior, both of the Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork and his 42 year old cousin Daniel Dooley, of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry.

The juvenile was also found guilty of murder last year,. He was remanded in custody in July of last year for sentencing at sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork today. (Monday) The man cannot be named for legal reasons.

Defence barrister Jane Hyland, SC, today said that her client was of a lower culpability in the case as compared to his other co accused who were older men.

Hyland said that her client fully accepted that it was a terrible crime and was remorseful for his actions.

The young man wrote a letter of apology for his behaviour. He said that he was “genuinely sorry” and wished he could “turn back time.”

The teenager has undertaken a number of courses in prison in order to better himself and turn his life around.

Hyland said that her client was armed with a baseball bat at the cemetery and was of “medium culpability” in relation to what had occurred.

Sentencing in the case was adjourned until March 31st next. Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said that she had to decide what the appropriate sentence was in the case given that she could depart from the mandatory sentence of life for murder.

Ms Justice Ring said that the DPP had not given any guidance in relation to sentencing. She stated that she was ‘anxious’ to get it (the sentencing) right.

She told legal counsels that she was open to receiving any information from other jurisdictions which could possibly assist her in relation to sentencing.

Ms Justice Ring said that this is the first time the Central Criminal Court has had to determine the headline sentence in the case of a juvenile convicted of murder. She deemed it “novel territory.”

She apologised to Thomas Dooley’s wife Siobhan for the adjournment in sentence and added that it was “unforgivable” that Thomas Dooley was murdered in the presence of his wife and four youngest children.