A Kerry man was given a life sentence in the Central Criminal Court yesterday after he was convicted of the murder of a teenager in Tralee.
Mr Justice Kinlen told Michael O'Brien (26) he was sentencing him to life imprisonment because he was such a danger to society. The judge also recommended that he be detained at the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Dublin.
As the verdict was read out the man's sister burst into tears, crying "he's innocent", and the accused called out "this is a miscarriage of justice".
Michael "John the Bobs" O'Brien, single and unemployed of Gallowsfield, Tralee, Co Kerry, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of James Healy (16), of Shanakill, Tralee, Co Kerry, at Monavalley Industrial Estate, Tralee, on or about February 22nd, 1997.
Describing the prisoner as "a man with a personality disorder", but not mentally ill, Mr Justice Kinlen told O'Brien he never worked in his life and never sought work and had spent a considerable period of his life in prison.
He said that along with "a group of youths, aged 14, 15 and 16, who were your deputies", he had engaged in various criminal activities.
"Because of the disruption you caused to your own family, not least to your own parents, welfare workers, your GP and gardai all tried, kept trying to get you committed for psychiatric assessment.
"Dr Mary Clarke Finnegan did her best for you as a patient," he said, and "in the long term and with a great deal of effort you might feel remorse and understanding of the nature of your condition".
Mr Justice Kinlen said he was in an "impossible position" because he could not send the prisoner to Dundrum. It was a "tragedy in this country that we do not have facilities here where you might be received", and where there "might be some chance you might confront yourself and come to terms with your anti-social condition.
"But you do not wish to co-operate.
"I have no option but to sentence you to life imprisonment, but with a strong recommendation to the authorities that you be sent to Dundrum and detained there and very careful consideration should be given to your release," he said.
Mr Justice Kinlen then thanked the jury which had reached its unanimous verdict after a total of three hours over two days.
The jury had been told during the 46-day trial that, after he had been missing for three days, Mr Healy's body was found on waste ground near a factory off the Monavalley Road in Tralee.