Man gets four years for withholding evidence in manslaughter case

A man who denied any involvement in the manslaughter of a teacher and publican has been sentenced to four years in prison for withholding evidence during Garda investigations at the time.

Marian Lingurar (39), Loughgeorge, Claregalway, Co Galway, went on trial last February charged with the unlawful killing of John Kenny. Mr Kenny (56) was found bound and gagged in his own pub on Main Street, Oughterard, on September 25th, 2011.

However, shortly after the trial began, the DPP withdrew the manslaughter charge and accepted a plea instead to the lesser charge of withholding information during the investigation, which would have assisted in the apprehension and subsequent prosecution of another person in connection with the death of Mr Kenny.

A postmortem examination by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy showed Mr Kenny's death was as a the result of a serious assault.

The sentence hearing on Thursday heard from Shane Costello SC, prosecuting, that co-accused Florin Fitzpatrick had been working in Kenny’s pub for some time before this incident.

He is serving a five-year sentence having been convicted by a jury of withholding information.

Examination by gardaí of CCTV footage found evidence of Lingurar’s father’s car going from Galway city to Oughterard that night and back again in the early hours of the morning. He was arrested and detained. He maintained at all times that he had never been to Oughterard that night.

John Jordan SC, defending, said his client was afraid of the people who were involved in the actual assault on Mr Kenny and that was the reason he did not divulge any information to gardaí.

Garda Supt Noel Kelly confirmed this was an ongoing investigation and gardaí were still actively seeking other people believed to be involved in the incident.

Mr Costello said some of the people involved had been arrested at the time but had secured bail and absconded.

Lingurar, the court was told, had absconded but had been arrested in Marseilles on foot of a European arrest warrant and brought back to Ireland.