Rugby player avoids jail after killing pensioner in one-punch attack in pub

A RUGBY player sobbed as he was handed a three-year suspended prison sentence for the manslaughter of a pensioner in a one-punch attack in a pub.

Jonathan O’Sullivan (29) was told by Judge Sean O Donnabháin it was the suddenness rather than the preparedness or viciousness of the blow he struck unsuspecting father-offive Finbarr Lehane (65) which resulted in “an awful tragedy”.

In a harrowing victim impact statement, Mr Lehane’s daughter Catherine said they will be haunted by unanswered questions about what happened in a pub in Kanturk, Co Cork, on October 23/24, 2016, to a devoted family man who was “not violent and not aggressive”.

“We would never want any other family to go through what we have endured over the past two-and-a-half years,” she sobbed.

“We will be tormented by unanswered questions for the rest of our lives. It has taken its toll on us as a family.

“I was 10 weeks pregnant on the day of the accident. We had not told anyone. I had to tell my dad he had another grandchild on the way as he lay in a coma at CUH.

“He was not a violent or aggressive man. Our dad was a fun-loving character who took each day as it came.

“This will haunt us forever. The road to justice has been a long, painful and heartbreaking journey in which there are no winners and in our case no answers.”

Judge O Donnabháin said he felt O’Sullivan’s remorse was genuine.

He broke down in a Garda interview some days after he struck Mr Lehane – and he broke down at the conclusion of the trial. O’Sullivan wept as the sentence was being imposed and, the court was told, had earlier offered to meet in person with the Lehane family.

“[Mr Lehane] was completely unprepared – there was no lead-up other than the words spoken. It meant that when Mr Lehane was struck he was completely unaware.”

Judge O Donnabháin yesterday imposed a three-year suspended sentence.

O’Sullivan, an amateur rugby player, is single and works as an engineer in Kildare.

He was convicted by a Cork Circuit Criminal Court jury last month of the manslaughter of Mr Lehane at The Stand Bar in Kanturk on October 23/24, 2016. Mr Lehane, after being punched once, fell backwards and struck his head on the ground.

O’Sullivan, of Birchfield Park, Goatstown, Dublin but originally from Kanturk told the jury he was guilty of assault but not guilty of manslaughter.

‘When Mr Lehane was struck, he was completely unaware’