The mother of a man who was killed by members of a Limerick gang has called for an end to the senseless killings of innocent people.
Bernadette Coughlan made the plea in the Central Criminal Court, as three men were sentenced for their part in the manslaughter of her son.
Darren Coughlan, 18, was killed in Limerick almost two years ago.
Joseph Keane, 19, from Greenhills Road, Garryowen in Limerick and Richard Treacy also 19-years-old and from St Mary's Park in Limerick city were each sentenced to six years in prison.
Shane Kelly, 20, who has 71 previous convictions, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
As the sentences were handed down, Mr Keane and Mr Kelly laughed and smiled at each other. Mr Kelly winked at a friend or family member in the public benches. As they were led away, all three men were smiling.
Mr Keane is the son of Limerick criminal figure Kieran Keane, who was murdered in January 2003. Richard Treacy is the brother of Owen Treacy who was stabbed multiple times in the same incident in January 2003.
Last week five other Limerick men lost their appeal against their convictions for the murder of Mr Keane and the attempted murder of Mr Treacy.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said today he had warned the families of those men that they would die in prison if there was not an end to the feud. He said no heed had been paid to his warning.
2005 killing
The court heard that Mr Coughlan was not involved in the feud in the Limerick area. He was an apprentice electrician and although he had previously been in court for minor public order offences, he had not come to the attention of gardaí during the 12 months before the killing.
He had been out on the night of the 4 November 2005 with a friend who was also not involved in the feud. A car stopped beside them and three men got out demanding to know where a man called Mark Coughlan was.
One of the man pointed at Darren Coughlan and shouted 'there he is'.
Mr Coughlan tried to get away and ran down the road. He fell over and was then attacked and kicked repeatedly in the head by three men.
Mr Keane was the driver of the car and did not physically attack Mr Coughlan.
It was initially thought Mr Coughlan's injuries were not serious but he lost consciousness in hospital and died on 7 November 2005.
He was kept on a life support machine as he had asked that his organs be donated.
Ms Coughlan told the court her family was devastated. She said it haunted her every moment to think of her son running for his life. She said his uncles and aunts had had to move house because of constant harassment and intimidation.
And she said her son's friend, Philip Healy, who had identified the attackers, now had to have 24-hour garda protection.
'These senseless killings of innocent people must stop,' she told the court, 'I would not like any other family to go through the hell we've been through'.
