A Dublin man who murdered a "mentally challenged" 63-year-old man who had "the life strangled and squeezed out of him" has been jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court.
Kenneth Cummins, 28, with an address at Ringsend Park, Dublin 4, pleaded not guilty to murdering Thomas Horan at Cambridge Court, Ringsend on 6 January 2014.
A post-mortem examination showed that the deceased had head, neck and chest injuries consistent with a severe beating.
Kenneth Cummins and his sister Sabrina Cummins went on trial last year but four weeks into his trial on 11 November 2015 Kenneth Cummins changed his plea to guilty.
His sister was handed down a life sentence for the murder of Mr Horan on 20 November last year, by which time her brother was applying to vacate his guilty plea.
Last month Mr Justice Tony Hunt refused the application.
The court heard that Kenneth Cummins has 77 previous convictions including 46 public order convictions.
Upon handing down sentence, Judge Hunt said this was a case "where the current situation is" that Kevin Cummins pleaded guilty albeit at a late stage to a charge of murder.
"That is the position it is in now and Mr Cummins wants it to be otherwise. I propose to say no more about his withdrawal of the plea but that it has been rebuffed. Another court can express their views and the shenanigans that surrounds this straight forward case," he said.
Judge Hunt said it was important to take a step back and look at the death which Mr Horan received at the hands of two individuals.
"This man received a slow death, the life was strangled and squeezed out of him over a long period of time. There must have been a contribution from both people," he said.
The judge said the deceased had not did received an easy death and "the deep and profound effect on his wife" has been very eloquently set out.
"They were still very close, the only abuse that went on in this case was the abuse of a man that was a soft touch. He was a modest, unassuming and gentle sort of man," he said.
Judge Hunt told the court that while it could be said that Kennth Cummins was not part of "an ongoing abuse of Mr Horan", the deceased did have a "long hard death at the hands of both individuals".
The judge concluded by saying that Kenneth Cummins had "very properly pleaded guilty" and he then imposed a life sentence which he backdated to 8 January 2014.
