A homeless man who tied up, beat and kicked a "good Samaritan" who had helped him get accommodation, before leaving him to die, has been jailed for 10 years at the Central Criminal Court with the final 18 months suspended.
Kenneth Parker (37) of King Street, Cobh, Co Cork pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 40-year-old Sean Twomey at his flat on Tyrconnell Road in Inchicore on February 21, 2004.
Victim's brother Kevin Twomey
He and two friends had been drinking and arrived at the house. Parker was of the belief that Mr Twomey was pulling "some sort of fast one on him" in relation to welfare rent cheque.
Parker beat Mr Twomey on a number of occasions and tied him up with a tie before leaving a note written on a shoebox, in which he apologised for the crime.
Passing sentence Mr Justice Paul Carney said there was "absolutely no basis in fact" for Parker's belief that Mr Twomey was conning him over the housing cheque.
"The accused was a man with a drinking problem who was homeless and Sean Twomey, the deceased, assisted the accused in getting a room on account of the fact the accused was illiterate and the deceased assisted him in filling in the various forms, particularly for rent allowance," he said.
He said he also did not take any mitigation from the fact that Parker had left a note behind, when he had left the victim alone to die. The note read: "Sorry about the box, I hope you're OK. Sorry couldn't talk to you last night. Talk to you soon, your friend Ken."
Mr Twomey's body was found 48 hours later and the State pathologist found he had been dead for some time. He had eleven separate marks on his head and body, four broken ribs and there was evidence a ligature had been applied to his arm.
Dr Marie Cassidy also found a mark on the victim's neck suggesting some degree of strangulation.
Mr Justice Carney said he took account of evidence from Mr Twomey's brother Michael who said what bothered him the most was that Parker and the other two men didn't do anything to help his brother.
He said he did not think any particular mitigation should be taken from the fact that the deceased had a previous head injury as a result of a road traffic accident and was therefore more vulnerable to injury from the attack than anyone else.
He said the attack was particularly mean and unprovoked and said: "The response of the law should be to say tough."
Parker who has 27 previous convictions in Ireland and the UK for assaults, robberies, burglaries and assaulting police officers was given credit for his early guilty plea and the final 18 months of the sentence were unconditionally suspended.
The sentence was backdated to the date of his arrest on June 25, 2004. Leave to appeal was refused.
Speaking outside the court Mr Twomey's 18-year-old son Keith said: "He was a good man. It was very hard just to hear what happened."
Asked what he thought about the sentence he said: "It's not right for what happened to my dad. A life is a life."
Mr Twomey's brother Kevin told reporters: "Sean was a good guy. He helped him out. Sean was a good Samaritan all his life. It's a very big loss to the family." He said he was glad the judge had not taken his brother's previous injury into account.
Michael Twomey, another brother said Sean Twomey had been tied up and tortured while the two other men watched.
Speaking about Kenneth Parker, Kevin Twomey said: "I think his life is a disaster." He added: "It's unbelievable that type of person is out there. He's spent 20 years doing that kind of thing to people."