A teenager has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of a 29-year-old man at an estate in Co Cork in December 2022.
Jordan Deasy (19), of Ravensdale, Heron’s Wood in Carrigaline, went on trial at a Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork earlier this month charged with the murder of Matt O’Neill at Glenwood estate, Carrigaline, Co Cork, on December 28th, 2022.
The jury of six women and six men deliberated for almost 15 hours before they returned with their verdict on Thursday.
They are continuing to deliberate in relation to the case against his co-accused Ricardo Hoey (21), of Ardcarrig, Carrigaline, Co Cork, who was also charged with the murder of Mr O’Neill.
The trial heard that Mr O’Neill was taken to Cork University Hospital with injuries following an incident in Carrigaline on December 28th, 2022.
He went into a coma and died in hospital on January 8th, 2023.
The trial, which was presided over by Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford, heard evidence on the cause of death from Dr Margaret Bolster, who carried out a postmortem on Mr O’Neill on January 9th, 2023.
Dr Bolster said she was informed that Matt O’Neill had been treated at the scene on December 28th, 2022, by a passing orthopaedic consultant following an alleged assault.
He was removed to Cork University where he underwent surgery. However, he was placed on life support and never recovered consciousness.
Dr Bolster said Mr O’Neill was diagnosed with a devastating brain injury on January 7th, 2023, from which there was no possibility of recovery.
Dr Bolster said she had been told as background information that Mr O’Neill had been walking along a footpath in Glenwood on December 28th, 2022, when a car stopped alongside him and the driver and front seat passenger got out.
“A verbal altercation escalated to a physical altercation and Mr O’Neill fell backwards. He was kicked in the head.”
Dr Bolster said the postmortem examination revealed that Mr O’Neill sustained blunt force trauma to the head as a results of blows and a fall. He also had a traumatic axonal brain injury.
Dr Bolster discounted suggestions from the defence that an earlier assault on Mr O’Neill on December 24th involving youths could have left him vulnerable to death. She said Mr O’Neill walked around for four days after the first incident and showed no sign of illness or distress.
“He was still conscious. He was acting as normal. A subdural haemorrhage normally manifests in 24 hours. He was walking around four days later. The second assault resulted in his death.”
Matt O’Neill was born in Brisbane in Australia but moved back to Ireland with his parents, Pat and Eileen, as a young child.
His father told his funeral that Matt was “the body and soul” of the family, who had been left heartbroken by his death.
Fr James McSweeney said Matt was “precious, special and unique.”
By Olivia Kelleher
