A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to 11 years in jail with the final three years suspended for the murder of 42-year-old father-of-seven Thomas Dooley as he attended a funeral in Tralee, Co Kerry, in October 2022.
The man, who was aged 17 years and two months when the attack on Thomas Dooley took place, was not given a life sentence even though he was convicted of the murder last July.
This is because the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that, in cases of a minor convicted of murder, a life sentence should only be imposed in exceptional circumstances where the intentions and actions can fairly be equated with those of an adult.
The man's sentencing for the murder of Thomas Dooley had been adjourned until today, pending the Supreme Court ruling.
Five of the man's co-accused have already been sentenced to life in prison, following conviction of all six at a seven-week trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork last year.
The man who was sentenced today cannot be identified, even though he is now aged 19. This is also because of his age at the time of Thomas Dooley's murder.
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In a separate Supreme Court judgment, also delivered earlier this month concerning the right to anonymity of a child offender who turns 18 during either the trial or subsequent appeal, the court ruled the offender should be entitled to retain the right to anonymity.
The prosecution in the Thomas Dooley murder trial alleged that his death was an honour killing to settle a score after the break-up of a relationship between one of his daughters and one of the convicted men.
Thomas Dooley was described during the trial as a thoroughly decent man, and a devoted and loving father and husband.
He died when he was attacked with bladed weapons as he and his wife Siobhán attended a funeral in Tralee on 5 October 2022, suffering what the prosecution described as savage injuries.
Siobhán Dooley was also injured - a deep wound she received later required 45 stitches and 30 surgical staples.
At the sentencing hearing for the 19-year-old in Cork this morning, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring referred to the Supreme Court ruling in relation to the sentencing of minors for murder and other serious offences.
Ms Justice Ring said she did not feel a life sentence was appropriate in the case of the 19-year-old.
She referred to the level of pre-planning involved in the murder of Thomas Dooley and the bringing of weapons to the cemetery in Tralee as aggravating factors.
The trial had heard that the 19-year-old was in possession of a weapon during the attack.
However, she said it was likely that people older than the 19-year-old had been involved in planning the attack.
She also noted in her sentence that the 19-year-old had written a letter to the court in which he apologised to Thomas Dooley's wife Siobhán and that he had shown empathy and remorse in his interviews with officers from the Probation and Welfare Service.
The sentence was backdated to last July.
The five men jailed for life last July for the murder of Thomas Dooley are the dead man's 37-year-old brother, Patrick Dooley, of Arbutus Grove, Killarney, Co Kerry; his brother-in-law, 44-year-old Thomas Dooley senior, and his cousin, 22-year-old Thomas Dooley junior, both of Bay 10, Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork; and two other cousins, 30-year-old Michael Dooley of Bay 11, Halting Site, Carrigrohane Road, Cork; and 43-year-old Daniel Dooley, of An Carraigín, Connolly Park, Tralee, Co Kerry.
