Gardai have recommended charges of manslaughter against four school friends in connection with the death of Mr Brian Murphy (18) outside the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, The Irish Times has learned.
A file on the killing has been sent to the DPP. Mr Murphy died from head injuries after he was assaulted by young men during a fracas outside Club Anabel on August 31st last year.
The four young men, all aged 20 or 21, were arrested last September and questioned by detectives in Donnybrook and Harcourt Terrace stations.
All four are former pupils of Blackrock College. A number of them are now studying at university.
A total of 1,200 interviews was conducted by gardai during a lengthy investigation into the death. The DPP may issue directions in the case before the inquest, which is scheduled for early March.
The incident occurred about 3.15 a.m., when pupils and former pupils of various Dublin schools were leaving Club Anabel and had congregated around the main gates of the hotel and at the taxi rank.
Witnesses described how Mr Murphy and his friend, a former pupil of Clongowes Wood College, became involved in a dispute with other young men, leading to Mr Murphy's death.
He died a short time later in St Vincent's Hospital. Mr Murphy, from Mount Merrion in south Dublin, had just completed his Leaving Certificate at the Pre-University Centre. He was also a past pupil of Gonzaga and St Conleth's Secondary Schools.
The senior officer leading the investigation, Supt P.J. Browne, later ruled out school rugby rivalry as a motive for the attack on Mr Murphy.
It later emerged that a second young man died in Dublin city centre in suspicious circumstances on August 25th. Gardai are still investigating the involvement of youths from other Dublin secondary schools in the incident.
The remains of Mr David Langan (19), from Castleknock, were recently exhumed as part of the investigation. He died of head injuries after leaving the Palace Disco in Camden Street.