Midleton schoolboy Robert Holohan may have died as a result of being thrown to the ground and sat upon before being manually strangled, it was suggested, an inquest into the boy's death was told yesterday.
In reply to questions from his mother, Majella Holohan, State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy said she would not rule out the possibility that Robert (11) had been killed by his neighbour Wayne O'Donoghue sitting on top of him and strangling him with his hands.
O'Donoghue (22), Ballyedmond, Midleton, was cleared at the Central Criminal Court last December of Robert's murder but he pleaded guilty to his manslaughter, saying that he accidentally killed Robert when grabbing him in an armlock after a row over throwing stones at his car.
He was not summonsed to attend yesterday's inquest into Robert's death in January 2005.
Ms Holohan told the inquest that they had consulted a number of pathologists in an attempt to try and piece together what had happened to Robert and they had come up with a scenario.
Ms Holohan said that scenario involved O'Donoghue catching Robert by the arm, throwing him to the ground where he hit his head, then sitting upon and strangling him. She asked Dr Cassidy if Robert's injuries were consistent with such a scenario.
"I can't say that that didn't happen - it would certainly account for a lot of the injuries," said Dr Cassidy, adding that the pattern of deep bruising to the muscles of Robert's neck was consistent with manual strangulation through a hand gripping the neck.
Dr Cassidy also told Ms Holohan that while bruising to Robert's tongue could have been caused by it being pushed against his throat, the injuries to his mouth were consistent with either a slap to the mouth or a hand being placed over his mouth.
During an emotional hearing which lasted just under 90 minutes at Midleton courthouse, Ms Holohan asked Dr Cassidy if she believed that Robert had suffered when he was strangled by O'Donoghue on January 4th, 2005.
"For all the evidence, we still don't know how long Wayne O'Donoghue strangled my little boy, we are only looking at it from a lay person's point of view. We just want to know how long did our little boy suffer?" Ms Holohan asked.
Dr Cassidy replied: "The indications are that Robert didn't show any significant injuries other than the marks on his neck. He may not have become unconscious immediately, he may have been struggling but he wouldn't have been suffering any pain."
Mark Holohan had earlier asked Det Sgt Brian Goulding if he believed that there was a sexual motive to O'Donoghue's killing of his son but the coroner for south Cork, Frank O'Connell, said that he could not allow such a question.
Mr O'Connell also intervened and ruled out a question from Mr Holohan to Dr Cassidy about whether O'Donoghue used more force than was portrayed and he cautioned Ms Holohan about asking whether a swab found to have semen was taken from Robert's closed hand.
Supt Liam Hayes applied to have the inquest adjourned pending proceedings in the Court of Criminal Appeal, where the Director of Public Prosecutions has appealed the leniency of a four-year sentence imposed by Mr Justice Paul Carney on O'Donoghue.
Mr O'Connell said that he had no option but to accede to the Garda application and he adjourned the inquest.