The Daily Star Ireland
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A 24-year-old man has been found guilty of manslaughter but acquitted of murder in connection with the death of a Limerick man who was punched and kicked during a fight in County Kildare more than two years ago.
Calvin Dunne of Abbeyview, Monasterevin had denied the murder of Dylan McCarthy, who died after being assaulted outside a pub in July 2022.
The prosecution said he was felled by a single punch and then kicked in the head with such force that he died. After three days of deliberation, the jury delivered a 10-2 majority verdict of guilty against Dunne for manslaughter. They unanimously found him guilty of violent disorder.
The jury was instructed during the trial that in case they felt Dunne acted in self-defence using excessive force and yet believed it was necessary at the time, they were free to bring a verdict of manslaughter instead of murder.
Dunne had told gardaí that he intervened in the fight only to protect his friend. He admitted kicking McCarthy but said this was to the chest, not the head, and in self-defence.
The court heard that McCarthy had earlier been involved in another altercation that night which had resulted in him being turfed out of the pub. As Dunne and his friend Sean Kavanagh, 26, were walking by, McCarthy and his father came onto the street – leading to the fatal confrontation.
Kavanagh, of St Mary’s Lane, Church Avenue had been charged alongside Dunne but was acquitted of murder earlier in the trial after a direction from the judge. He pleaded guilty to assaulting Dylan McCarthy’s father, Eamon, on the same night.
In his closing argument, prosecuting counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing referred to CCTV footage which he said showed Dunne turning McCarthy around and hitting him with what he called “a sucker punch.” He said McCarthy was lying face down on the ground when he was kicked-a kick that in itself could have caused the fatal injury, according to pathologist Dr. Heidi Okkers.
Ó Dúnlaing referred to witness accounts of the incident where one described the sound of the kick as akin to the slamming of a car door and another said it sounded like the kick of a football. He said Dunne had no reasonable apprehension of defence and was in a position to retreat yet he propelled “a running kick”.
The defence had maintained the McCarthy family instigated an altercation inside the Bellyard pub, and Mr. Dunne and Mr Kavanagh just happened to pass by when an event unfolded outside. Senior Counsel John Fitzgerald argued that Mr Dunne only intervened in defence of his friend as Dylan and Eamon McCarthy came over to where they were outside the premises.
Fitzgerald noted that one of the eyewitnesses had testified that he had accepted that Dunne might have kicked McCarthy in the chest rather than in the head. He said also that the State Pathologist had been unable to say whether it was a punch or kick which caused McCarthy’s death.
Addressing the jury, Fitzgerald told them that if they had any doubt but that Dunne had kicked McCarthy in the face then they were duty-bound to bring in a verdict in his favour. He stressed that the law did not stand over the view that a person should just stand there and take a punch or stand by while their friend is attacked saying that a person has a right to defend themselves or another from an assault.
Mr Fitzgerald proceeded to point out that Mr McCarthy had been the aggressor and that anything Mr Dunne had done in response had to be judged against that background because, by use of the video evidence, McCarthy was getting to his feet when he was punched.
Ms Justice Caroline Biggs, in charging the jury, said the three possible verdicts were : guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter, not guilty of either count.
For murder, the jury would have to be satisfied that Dunne’s actions directly contributed to McCarthy’s death and that he had intended to kill or cause serious harm.
On self-defence, Judge Biggs said the law allowed a person to use force to defend himself or another but the force used had to be reasonable in the circumstances. The jury was invited to consider Dunne’s position at the time he struck the punch and kick and whether his perception of the threat was such that his reaction was justified.
He was remanded in custody following the verdict and awaits sentencing.
