A 29-year-old Meath man who inexplicably killed his friend after a day of drinking and taking drugs together has been jailed for four years.
John Mooney, with an address at Trim Road, Summerhill, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 42-year-old Thomas Canning, also from Summerhill, at Lough Lene, Collinstown, Co Westmeath, on 30 August 2007.
Mooney was acquitted of the murder of Mr Canning following a trial earlier this month. He had offered a plea to manslaughter before the trial but that had been rejected by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
An intoxicated Mooney had launched an unprovoked attack on his friend last year, which resulted in Mr Canning suffering a fatal heart attack.
At the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Barry White said 'neither intoxication nor the use of illegal substances can ever excuse the commission of a criminal offence.'
He called the death 'mindless in every sense'.
He accepted that the defendant was genuinely remorseful, had co-operated fully with gardaí and was 'acutely conscious of the pain and loss' he had inflicted on the Canning family.
Garda Brian Frayne told Michael Durack SC, prosecuting, that Mooney called gardaí at around 3.30am and said he had killed his friend in a camper van.
When gardaí arrived at the scene they found Mooney sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle and Mr Canning lying on the floor of the van.
Mooney was intoxicated at the scene and accepted responsibility for Mr Canning's death.
He was arrested and taken to Mullingar Garda Station, where he was seen by a doctor and interviewed. He co-operated fully and appeared remorseful.
He told gardaí that he met up with his friend at around 3pm on the previous day. They travelled around drinking in various places in Meath and Westmeath.
At around 7.30pm they bought a tray of 24 cans of Miller beer from an off licence.
They parked Mr Canning's campervan at Lough Lene where they drank the beer, smoked cannabis and took a white powder which they believed to be cocaine but was actually lignocaine, used as a mixing agent in the preparation of cocaine.
At around 3am the powder ran out and Mooney went into a fit, lost control and attacked the deceased.
Medical evidence revealed that the cause of Mr Canning's death was somewhat complicated and involved the defendant either punching him in the throat or placing his hands on his throat causing his larynx to fracture and leading to a fatal heart attack within 15 seconds.
During his interview Mooney could offer no explanation for his attack.
Defence counsel, Patrick Gageby SC, said, 'no shadow of blame was cast by the accused on the deceased'.
Mr Justice White heard that Mr Canning was a separated man and father of two.
Gda Frayne said the Canning family is receiving counselling and that the deceased's ten-year-old son was most badly affected by the loss.
Mooney had worked as a labourer and had drug and alcohol problems. He was unemployed and had been suffering from anxiety and depression, for which he was taking medication.
He had 14 previous convictions for road traffic, public order and burglary offences.
Mr Gageby said that his client came from an extremely decent, hard-working and respectable family. He said his client's plea of guilty to manslaughter had been vindicated by the jury's acquittal in relation to the murder charge.
