A Co Clare man who bludgeoned to death a young deaf man, then left his body in a lonely boreen, was jailed for 10 years yesterday. Michael Sage (26), Glenacre, Killaloe, Co Clare, was convicted last month of the manslaughter and false imprisonment of Mr John Carroll (21), Cappamore, Co Limerick, on December 4th, 1998, at Garraun, near Ballinahinch, Tipperary.
The jury acquitted him of murder, but he was sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter and a further seven for false imprisonment, both to run concurrently.
Another man, William Roche, is already serving a life sentence for the murder of Mr Carroll. Ms Deirdre Rose, who is married to Sage, was also convicted in connection with the killing, but the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed her conviction. As Sage was sentenced in the Central Criminal Court yesterday, Ms Rose sat with her head bowed, sobbing.
After the hearing, Mr Carroll's foster father, Mr Martin Quish, said the family expected Sage to get a lengthy sentence and were "very happy" with the jail term. Having sat through three trials and one appeal, he expressed "immense relief" that it was now over, but said John's family remained disappointed that Sage was not convicted of murder.
"It was a brutal slaying of a young innocent. You would not do to an animal what they did to him," Mr Quish said.
During Sage's trial the jury heard that Mr Carroll was beaten to death with a heavy-duty iron ratchet weighing one stone. Post-mortem results showed fragments of his skull embedded in his brain tissue. Death was not instantaneous. After bludgeoning him about the head and face, Sage and Roche drove off, leaving Mr Carroll dressed only in a T-shirt and jeans in the muddy boreen.
The badly-beaten man lay in freezing temperatures until his body was found hours later by a local farmer out feeding his cattle.
The court heard that Sage and Roche rummaged through Mr Carroll's pockets as he lay dying, but all they got was his free travel pass. During his trial, Roche admitted that John Carroll was killed for "a few lousy pounds".
Earlier that night they had tried to rob him after they met up in a pub in Clarisford, Co Clare. Mr Carroll had bought drinks throughout the evening and they believed he was "flush".
He had travelled up from Limerick earlier that day with Ms Bernadette Fitzgerald, Roche's girlfriend. He worked with Ms Fitzgerald at the National Development Training Institute.
After leaving the pub, Roche and Sage assaulted Mr Carroll on waste ground. They then bundled him into Sage's car on the pretext of taking him to hospital. On the way, Roche punched and kicked him in the back of the car before dragging him out when they reached the boreen at Garraun where the fatal attack took place.
Sentencing Sage, Mr Justice Carney said he felt an attempt had been made in court to sanitise the brutal manner of Mr Carroll's death. Suspending the final two years of the manslaughter sentence, he refused leave to appeal.