Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WHY IS OUR DADDY NOT COMING HOME?
Widow tells of kids’ anguish after one-punch killer jailed
I feel that the day Jim died, I died as a person too. My life is now over CHRISTINA MCDONAGH BELFAST YESTERDAY
THE heartbroken widow of a man killed in a one-punch attack has said her children still ask: “Why is daddy not coming home?”
James Mcdonagh, 28, known as Jim, later died in hospital from injuries he suffered in a row outside a Co Antrim nightclub on January 10, 2016.
Finbar Mccoy Jnr was jailed for six months yesterday after pleading guilty to manslaughter last month.
Mr Mcdonagh had been socialising at the Elk Bar on Saturday, January 9, and at 2.25am a disturbance involving a number of people broke out.
During the row that spilled on to the street in Toomebridge, the victim was punched in the face by Mccoy, 26, and fell and hit his head on the ground.
Following the sentencing by Mrs Justice Keegan at Belfast Crown Court, the PSNI released statements from Mr Mcdonagh’s mother Roseanne and widow Christina.
Christina said their lives “will never be the same” and Mccoy has never apologised to her family.
She added: “As a member of the Travelling community you only marry the once so I will be now a widow for the rest of my life.
“Jim is gone and taken from us as a family and my sons James and Patrick will never get the opportunity to have this experience and learning from their father.
“Jim’s death will have a major impact on my sons as they are growing up. Jim was a good father and husband.
“I feel that the day Jim died, I died as a person, my life is now over, it will never be the same again.
“James asks why his daddy is in heaven and why he is not coming home. When I take James to the grave in Coalisland, he sees his
daddy’s picture and asks is daddy coming here?” Mrs Justice Keegan told the court a pre-sentence report said Mccoy fully accepted his responsibility in the death and was assessesed as a “low likelihood of reoffending’’ as he had no previous convictions.
It noted the “significant level of remorse” shown by the accused, from Tamlaghduff Road in Bellaghy, Co Derry, who also received a six-month suspended term.
Mr Mcdonagh’s mother said she feels sorry for Mccoy’s parents and did not want to see him go to prison. She added: “Losing Jim, losing my child, I can only describe it as having my heart ripped out from me. My mother and father have both passed away but the hurt and grief I experienced with their loss is so different compared to the pain of losing your child.
“I miss him every day, I had a special connection and bond with Jim and now it is gone. My son Jim was not a saint, but being his mother I could never see the bad side of him.
“During our time going to court, I wanted people to care, I didn’t want people to not care and think that he was just another gypsy.
“Whilst attending court, I felt sorry for Finbar’s mother and father and his family. I didn’t care if Finbar Jnr did not see the inside of a prison, as a family we just wanted the recognition for what he had done and caused Jim’s death.
“I also recognise and respect Finbar Jnr done a big thing in pleading guilty, I don’t want the boy to be punished.
“I feel sorry for Finbar’s mother and father, it’s an awful thing to see your child go to jail.”