A MAN has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing his “life-long friend” over a narcotics debt. Aidan Finnegan (31), Whitestown Avenue, Hartstown, Blanchardstown, Dublin, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Dara McCormack (24) on February 11th, 2006.
Mr McCormack was shot in the back at Whitestown in Blanchardstown and died shortly afterwards in the arms of his father, Thomas.
The judge backdated the 12- year sentence to January 30th, 2009. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Paul Carney said Finnegan had been “a bosom and life-long friend” of Mr McCormack, but that this had not prevented him from taking part in a “vicious attack over a squalid drug debt”, which proved fatal.
The judge said he did not accept Finnegan’s “self-serving version of events” and that it was clear from witnesses that he had been an active participant in the manslaughter of Mr McCormack.
The judge added that Finnegan was “unfortunate in his friends” and did not have “a good character”.
He said that although his guilty plea would normally have entitled him to a significant discount, this sentence would not be reduced because circumstances had forced the collapse of the trial last year.
Thomas McCormack had told the court that his son named one of his best friends as his attacker in his dying moments.
He said he had knelt by his son when he found him injured and bleeding on the ground near their home and asked him: “Who shot you?”
Mr McCormack said his son struggled for breath as he replied: “Aidan, Aidan, Da.”
“Aidan Finnegan f***ing shot you?” Mr McCormack asked, and his son said: “Yes Da, Aidan.”
Det Garda Sgt Michael Kennedy said a number of residents of Whitestown Park described how they ran outside their homes after hearing a loud bang.
He said one witness described two men dressed in black standing beside the victim, who said “please don’t shoot”, while kicking out with his legs in an effort to defend himself.
A postmortem by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy found that Mr McCormack died from a shotgun blast to the back, which caused blood loss and damaged most of the major internal organs, including his heart and liver.
In April, Finnegan pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. This plea was accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Det Sgt Kennedy told the court that an investigation into the shooting led detectives to believe that Finnegan and another man had been looking for money from Mr McCormack as payment for drugs.
The court heard that Mr McCormack’s eldest sister Tammy McCormack had received a text message from her brother asking if she had €200 to lend.
Det Sgt Kennedy agreed with Patrick Marrinan SC, defending, that Finnegan had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter three years ago but the plea was not accepted at the time.
Speaking outside the court, Ms McCormack said she would never forgive Finnegan for taking her brother’s life and causing her parents and family so much pain and anguish.
“To completely articulate the impact that Dara’s death has had on our lives is truly overwhelming and impossible,” she said.
A 12-year sentence, she added, was surely too lenient for the “callous and premeditated attack” on her brother.
She said Finnegan “handed Dara a death sentence and his family a life sentence” and that he had never shown any remorse to her family.