A Limerick man has been sentenced to eight years in prison, with the final two years suspended, for killing his father in a drink-fuelled row.
Gerard McNamara, 24, of Cedar Court, Kennedy Park, Limerick, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Joseph 'Joey' O'Donnell at Hyde Road, Prospect, in the city on 1 October 2010.
The 48-year-old man died in hospital from blunt force trauma to the head, hours after his son had kicked and beaten him with a number of household items.
Mr O'Donnell's former partner Jean Coleman said a row broke out between father and son when they were both "steamed" after a day spent drinking at Mr O'Donnell's house on Hyde Road.
The court heard McNamara "just snapped" when Mr O'Donnell made "disparaging comments" about his son's mother.
The jury was told McNamara knocked his father to the ground and started kicking him and hitting him with "anything he could get his hands on", including items of furniture and a full beer can.
Gardaí were called to the scene at about 3.30am when the two men were arguing in the front garden.
They offered to call an ambulance for Mr O'Donnell who had bruising under his left eye, but he refused and also declined to make any complaint, claiming "it was nothing, just family stuff".
Mr O'Donnell's partner Jean Coleman raised the alarm when she was unable to rouse him from bed the following morning. He was taken by ambulance to hospital in an unconscious state and later pronounced dead.
Speaking outside the court, McNamara's mother Marian said her only son was "very upset" by what had happened that night and that he had not meant to do what he had done.
"There were things said on the night that weren't true," she said, referring to a suggestion made by Mr O'Donnell that her son had been abused by his grandfather, also called Gerard McNamara.
"My father reared my son and he raised seven of us as well. He is the nicest, quietest gentleman you could ever meet. No-one has a bad word to say about him, and I want to clear that with the newspapers," she said.
Ms McNamara said her son went down to the house after the row to see was Mr O'Donnell alright, and also phoned him about an hour after the incident.
"Joey was alright, we weren't expecting him to die," she said.
A victim impact statement was read in court on behalf of the dead man's older brother, Anthony O'Donnell. He said Mr O'Donnell was "highly regarded" by his friends and family, who would be "lost without him".
"He didn't deserve to die that way," he read.
The court heard that McNamara has 16 previous convictions including theft, possession of drugs and public order offences.
Mr Justice Paul Carney suspended the final two years of the eight-year sentence on account of McNamara's remorse and his early plea of guilty.
He also directed that McNamara undergo 18 months of post-release supervision, warning that he may be liable to further imprisonment if those terms are breached.
The sentence was backdated to 11 October 2011, meaning that McNamara is due to serve five-and-a-half years in prison.
