Justice meant that the way David Langan met his death could not be ignored. Frank McNally reports
The punch that led to David Langan's death was "not a boxer's blow," according to evidence. But it was enough to make him fall over, fatally hitting his head off the footpath near Dublin's Portobello Bridge, in the early hours of August 25th, 2000. He never regained consciousness.
Ironically it was the peace-maker in the initial scuffle who precipitated the tragedy. Fergal Cagney, just turned 19, had earlier restrained his 17-year-old cousin, Ronan McGrath, when a row developed outside a nightclub in Camden Street. He was still holding him back when McGrath and Langan clashed again at Portobello, minutes later. In the final scuffle, however, Cagney struck the victim twice.
When a Garda car and ambulance reached the scene soon afterwards, Langan's friends spoke of an accidental fall. This was still the story when the 19-year-old died five days later. Cagney and McGrath had been among those who visited him in hospital in the intervening period. But their demeanour there caused some suspicion on the part of the victim's parents.
Speaking at the Circuit Criminal Court yesterday after McGrath and Cagney were each sentenced to 15 months, the victim's mother said: "You could see guilt in certain faces at the hospital."
Yet it was not until the cousins began talking about the incident with friends that the suspicions hardened. Word reached the gardaí and the case was reopened. On December 18th, 2000, almost four months after his death, Langan's body was exhumed from Castleknock cemetery in north-west Dublin.
Interviewed by investigating officers, Cagney and McGrath confessed their involvement and expressed remorse. When the case finally came before the court last month, they were cleared of manslaughter but convicted on the lesser charge of reckless endangerment, a crime for which they still faced up to seven years in prison.
Pleading for leniency yesterday, counsel for Ronan McGrath conceded that the one certainty about the Portobello case was that there was "undoubtedly too much drink taken by all involved".
The origins of the fight were not explained in court. Langan, a student of sound engineering who was working in Dunnes Stores, arrived at the Camden Palace nightclub around midnight. McGrath, also from Castleknock, arrived with Cagney about an hour later. They all left shortly before 3 a.m.
The dead man's parents suspect the fight related to the disappearance of their son's mobile phone. But the evidence only said that Langan pushed McGrath against the shutters of the premises as it emptied. Both were restrained, and Langan was led away by a friend in the direction of Portobello.
McGrath followed at a distance, shouting, but was held back by Cagney and another friend. When Langan stopped at the Grand Canal while waiting for a taxi, the groups converged again, and again McGrath had to be restrained. Evidence was given that before Cagney's fatal intervention, his cousin urged him: "Hit him, hit him, f--king hit him."
Testimonials read out on behalf of the accused said both were from good families and had never been in trouble before. It was accepted by everyone that death was unintended. A detective involved in the case told the court the two were unlikely to reoffend.
Jugde Dominic Lynch bore all of this in mind. "Nevertheless," he added, their role in the tragedy could not be "overlooked". Balancing the difference in their ages with their respective roles as "prime instigator" and "peace-maker at the initial stage," he believed they should receive the same sentence. Three years each was appropriate, but in recognition of the mitigating factors, he would reduce this to 15 months.
The victim's family welcomed the decision as "justice done".
But they spoke with quiet dignity, stressing that they would not have wished for a more severe sentence.