Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ONE-PUNCH KILLER GUILTY
Jury convicts 23-year-old of best friend’s manslaughter
A MAN has been told to expect jail time after killing his best friend with one punch in a row over a car.
Joseph Dorrian claimed he acted in self-defence when he landed the blow that ended 22-year-old Darren O’neill’s life after tempers flared at Tyrella Beach in Co Down.
Yesterday, a jury at Downpatrick Crown Court unanimously found the 23-year-old guilty of manslaughter.
Dorrian told the court: “I didn’t set out to hurt my best friend. The day was meant to be a fun day at the beach.”
A 23-YEAR-OLD who killed his friend in a “one-punch” attack during a day out at the beach was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter.
Joseph Dorrian claimed he was acting in self-defence when he struck Darren O’neill, 22.
But the prosecution insisted it was “an entirely unnecessary, unjustified, unlawful act” and a blow struck “in anger”.
It took the jury three hours to come to their unanimous verdict and find Dorrian guilty.
Mr O’neill died on June 29, 2019, two days after the incident at Tyrella Beach in Co Down.
Downpatrick Crown Court Judge Geoffrey Miller QC told Dorrian that while he was releasing him on continuing bail, he “must expect an immediate custodial sentence” when he comes to deal with the matter.
The week-long trial heard an argument flared after Mr O’neill took Dorrian’s father’s new Seat Arona car and, according to witnesses, began “raking it about... doing hand-break turns and driving at speed”.
On his return an angry Dorrian slapped him, only for Mr O’neill to hit him back.
One of their female friends who tried to intervene was pushed away by Mr O’neill, who called on Dorrian to “come on, hit me”.
The court heard Dorrian struck Mr O’neill’s jaw with his right fist causing him to fall.
Although he quickly returned to his feet, his pallor suddenly changed and he collapsed to the ground again.
Despite attempts to revive him, during which CPR was carried out, Mr O’neill was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he died in the Intensive Care Unit.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Christopher Johnson later revealed his death was due to
There must have been force behind this punch DR CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON
blunt trauma to the head which tore an internal artery, causing a bleed on the brain and a cardiac arrest.
Mr O’neill also sustained a fracture to a small bone in his neck and Dr Johnson said this indicated “there must have been some element of force behind this punch... a punch with some force behind it”.
However, Dorrian, from Lakeview, Crumlin, Co Antrim, maintained his innocence and told his trial: “I didn’t set out to hurt my best friend. The day was meant to be a fun day at the beach.”
Dorrian also claimed he had “panicked” when initially questioned about what happened and denied changing his story to “sugarcoat and underplay” his actions.
Describing Mr O’neill as his “best friend”, Dorrian said they were in “brilliant form” in the lead-up to their argument over him taking off along the beach in his father’s new jeep.
However, he denied being angry or losing his temper at Mr
Mcneill’s “rough’ driving”. He rejected prosecution claims he was “absolutely furious” with Mr O’neill and he just “couldn’t resist... and let him have it” with a punch to the jaw.
Dorrian accepted and told his counsel, Brendan Kelly QC, that they had exchanged words and at one stage had squared up to one another, their heads touching, before he “noticed a change in his [Mr O’neill’s] body language”.
He added: “I said to him, ‘What are you going to do Darren, hit me’, and he swung a dig and I
pulled my head back the ways.” Dorrian said this blow glanced off his shoulder and hit his chin.
He told the court he “just reacted” and added: “I was frightened of receiving more punches and I wanted it to stop. I pushed my hand out in reasonable force to give him the indication to stop.”
Later, under cross-examination by prosecution QC Gavin Duffy, Dorrian maintained his initial account to police at the scene was wrong and at that time he “panicked... everything was going through my head and I was just spitting words out”. He also denied “dumping” his first account and “reconstructing” a version which better suited his claims of selfdefence, as he had “goaded” his friend into fighting when Mr O’neill was “in a physically vulnerable state and unfit to fight” due to his intoxicated state.
“The bottom line,” suggested Mr Duffy, was that Dorrian “just couldn’t resist and you let him have it”, describing the blow to the jaw as “unnecessary and unwarranted”.
Mr Duffy added: “Unfortunately for you and more unfortunately for Mr O’neill, you caused his death.”
Dorrian will be sentenced in March once probation and other reports are completed, along with victim impact statements from the family of Mr O’neill.
I said to him, ‘What are you going to do, hit me’ JOSEPH DORRIAN DOWNPATRICK COURT