A Tallaght man has been jailed for four years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for the manslaughter of a father of four whom he punched at a city-centre bus stop.
Ian Stanbridge (24), Bawnlee Drive, had denied killing Mr James Kavanagh (36), who died in hospital from head injuries following the assault at Eden Quay on May 27th, 2003.
Judge Yvonne Murphy heard that Stanbridge had 20 previous convictions for offences including robbery, criminal damage and public disorder.
Passing the four-year sentence, she took two further counts of assault causing serious harm and assault causing harm to Mr Kavanagh into account.
She said that she had noted the description of the case by Mr Brendan Nix SC, defending, as a "one-punch manslaughter".
However, she said that the single blow was "one of considerable force" which broke Mr Kavanagh's jaw and cheekbone. She accepted that Stanbridge had expressed deep remorse for the crime.
Det Garda Mark Jordan told Ms Una Ní Raifeartaigh, prosecuting, that the injury did not initially appear to be as serious as it was.
He added that it was unclear what the motive for the attack was and agreed that Stanbridge and the dead man did not know each other. "It was never established what sparked it off," he said.
Following his arrest on June 7th, 2003, Stanbridge admitted swinging a punch at the victim but claimed that he had done this in self-defence after Mr Kavanagh tried to push him into the Liffey.
He told gardaí: "I never meant for the man to die. I am sorry for him and sorry for his family." During the trial Mr Michael Clavin said he had met Mr Kavanagh for a few pints after work at the Parnell Mooney pub in Dublin city centre.
On their way to get a bus home they encountered Stanbridge on Eden Quay, and words were exchanged between him and Mr Kavanagh. He said a couple of minutes later Stanbridge approached Mr Kavanagh and said: "You called me a wanker", to which Mr Kavanagh replied "You don't really want to go there".
Stanbridge then struck him, causing him to fall to the ground. He got on a bus and left.
The victim's father, also called James Kavanagh, told Judge Murphy that going to the hospital to see his son on a life support machine was "a horror".
Mr Kavanagh snr said: "I find it very hard to find the words to deal with this. At the time we were in the hospital it was just horror. The sorrow, the grief, watching my son for three days, his life ebb away.
"When the life-support machine was turned off, I saw my boy turn from a healthy complexion to a blue-grey death-like complexion. I will carry that with me until the day I die. My wife just crumbled at that moment. Her spirit disintegrated. She never recovered from the shock."
He said his son had lived in England for a number of years, and Mr Kavanagh snr thought Ireland would provide a better way of life for bringing up children. "I'd have been better advising Jim to go to Iraq or Robert Mugabe's part of Africa. He would know what to expect there," he said.
His son went through life without a blemish on his character and never brought a moment's disgrace to the family.
"Jim didn't only die that night, a vital part of his family died.
"There's a little girl who still doesn't think he's dead. She thinks she'll get an egg for Easter. She will get an egg but not from the person she wants it from."
Mr Nix offered Stanbridge's sincere apologies to Mr Kavanagh but he replied: "I can't accept anything like that because if I did it would condone it."