Graiguecullen man found guilty of Kilkenny manslaughter

A man has been found guilty of the manslaughter of Kilkenny man Edward (Liam) O’Sullivan.

Mr O’Sullivan suffered a “determined and vicious assault” at his home at High Hayes Terrace, in Kilkenny, in the early hours of Thursday, February 6, 2020. He died later that day in hospital.

At a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Kilkenny today (Friday) Garrett Smith, of 6 St Fiacc’s Terrace, Graiguecullen, Carlow, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Mr O’Sullivan by a jury.

It was a majority 10-2 verdict from the four women and eight men.

There was a unanimous guilty verdict returned by the jury on a second charge of violent disorder. 

The verdicts were returned after more than 10 hours of deliberations by the jury, over three days.

Mr Smith has now been remanded in custody to appear before the Central Criminal Court, in Dublin, for sentencing on Monday, November 21.

TRIAL

Over the course of the trial, more than 40 witnesses gave evidence, including gardaí, medical professionals, forensic experts, neighbours of Mr O’Sullivan and those who had spent time with him in his apartment on the day and night before he died.

The jury also heard from those who had been in the company of the defendant on that day. 

There had been a social gathering at Mr O’Sullivan’s apartment and those there had consumed alcohol and other substances. 

When things went quiet in the early hours of the morning an upstairs neighbour approached Mr O’Sullivan’s apartment to see if all was ok, and discovered him lying on the floor, ashen in colour with blood on his face. There was a pool of blood on the floor. 

Mr Smith was arrested and charged with the murder of Mr O’Sullivan.

The jury heard that Mr O’Sullivan suffered ‘massively traumatic’ injuries in the assault.

A doctor gave evidence of blunt force trauma injuries to Mr O’Sullivan’s head, any one of which could have been fatal. There were also serious injuries to his abdomen, his ribs were broken at the front, sides and back.

There were bone injuries to Mr O’Sullivan’s face, his skull, nose and jawbone. 

Evidence had been heard that Mr O’Sullivan suffered a brain injury akin to that sustained in a road accident and he suffered swelling of the brain.

The injuries were described as massively traumatic injuries suffered extensively not only in the area of his head but also to his body.

Footwear patterns were found on Mr O’Sullivan’s face. A forensic expert told the court these were matched to footwear Mr Smith was wearing on the night.

The court heard an eye witness account of events from witness Rebecca Walsh who said she saw Mr Smith “stamping repeatedly” on the head and face of Mr O’Sullivan.

In her evidence she also described a gurgling sound from Mr O’Sullivan as he was being beaten, that, the court was told by a medical expert, was the aspiration of the blood from the bony injuries into the mouth, in accordance with the scientific evidence.

The court also heard a forensic expert found blood staining on the right shoe of Mr Smith that was consistent with contact with Mr O’Sullivan. There was splatter stain on the left shoe and left leg of Mr Smith’s jeans, as if he was standing beside Mr O’Sullivan. Standing on his left foot, stamping with the right foot.

Some blood staining on Ms Walsh’s clothes confirmed she was there.

Ms Walsh said that when Mr Smith was kicking Mr O’Sullivan he said “you were a hard man with your friends.”

Senior Counsel Sean Guerin, for the state, said this was the voice of a man embarrassed in front of others earlier in the evening and was there to get his revenge. 

Several witnesses gave evidence that earlier in the day they heard Mr Smith say things like he ‘felt like knocking someone out’ and that someone would ‘get it’ that night.

Colman Coady, senior counsel, defending, said these witnesses were unreliable. That they were motivated by spite against Mr Smith because Mr O’Sullivan was their friend. He suggested the jury ‘discount their evidence in its entirety.’

He said witnesses gave different and inconsistent accounts of what happened that night. He said events in the apartment had nothing to do with Mr Smith changing the atmosphere, and that as an outsider it was he who had been ‘marginalised, picked on and ganged up on.’

Mr Smith had given a statement alleging he had been ‘manhandled’ in the apartment, earlier in the evening.

Evidence was also given in the course of the trial in reference to the second count, of violent disorder.