A motorist looked like he was “possessed” when he killed a British drink-driver in a road rage attack, a court heard.
Karl Donohoe assaulted construction worker Raymond Bates with a hurley minutes after they argued at a junction in Dublin in September 2010.
The victim, a 49-year-old father-of-three from Peterlee, Co Durham, died in hospital four days after being beaten around the head.
Donohoe (31), previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin where he will be sentenced next Monday.
Mr Bates’s widow Brenda wept in court as it emerged her husband had drunk up to 10 pints of Guinness in a pub before getting behind the wheel of his Mitsubishi Pajero and tailgating and flashing Donohoe, who was travelling with his 18-month-old daughter.
Witnesses said Donohoe stopped in Irishtown, where both drivers got out of their cars and had an argument on the street, with Mr Bates shouting: “Don’t be breaking like a f***ing fanny, just drive your f**king car.”
Shortly afterwards, Mr Bates overtook Donohoe’s Toyota Rav 4 and mounted a central island before cutting in on him.
Donohoe claimed he feared he was going to be rammed off the road.
The court was told Donohoe took a hurley stick from the boot of his car and hit the Mitsubishi Pajero as it blocked his path, and then hit Mr Bates several times when he got out of the car, including a fatal blow to the left temple as he lay on the ground.
Both Mr Bates and Donohoe drove away from the scene before a witness reported the assault to the Garda.
Mr Bates went to St Vincent’s hospital the following day after becoming unwell, and was transferred to Beaumont Hospital where he fell into a coma and died on September 30th.
The court previously heard Donohoe, a crane worker from Tyrellstown, west Dublin, wanted to apologise to the Bates family and that the attack happened in a moment of madness.