A teenager, who killed a guest after being refused entry to a 21st birthday party in Dublin, has been given a six-year sentence at the Central Criminal Court.
Earlier this year, 19-year-old Stephen Maughan of St Margaret's Park, Ballymun in Dublin, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 26-year-old James Donoghue in Ballymun three years ago.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Paul Carney said the DPP had submitted that the case was at the top end of the scale of manslaughter.
He said after being chased away after they had thrown a bottle into the garden where the party was taking place, Maughan and his friends had armed themselves with knives.
Maughan used one of these knives to kill Mr Donoghue when they returned to the scene. This, Mr Justice Carney said, put a most serious complexion on the matter.
The judge said he had to have regard to the fact that Maughan was 16 when the offence occurred and that the Children's Act says imprisonment should only be used as a last resort, and only with regard to rehabilitation.
He said that having regard to all the facts, he was sentencing Maughan to six years in jail, running from 7 October 2007.
Earlier this week, the court heard Maughan had 14 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, robbery, attempted robbery, theft and intoxication in public and had no employment record.
