Court Hears Stag Night Killer Muttered Victim "Deserved It' After Delivering Fatal Punch

Sentencing of 40 year-old Sean Munnelly of Irishtown,Athlone is set to take place on October 16th.

A MAN on bail muttered "f**king deserved it" after delivering a fatal punch to a reveller who was attacked during a stag night in Athlone over four years ago, a court has heard.

A post-mortem found Paul "Babs" Connolly's death was caused by cardiac arrest resulting from a complex interaction of blunt force trauma to the head, in a setting of acute intoxication and the emotional stress of the situation.

The 48-year-old single man from Edenderry, Co. Offaly, was assaulted at Church Street in the Co. Westmeath town in the early hours of August 13, 2022.

Sean Munnelly (40), of Irishtown, Athlone, but originally from Co. Roscommon, was charged with manslaughter for the unlawful killing of the victim and has been in custody since the incident.

He pleaded guilty in June, just before a jury was about to be empanelled, for his trial at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court, where the case resumed on Tuesday before Judge Deirdre Browne.

She expressed condolences to members of Mr Connolly's family in the public gallery, calling it a harrowing incident and explaining that she needed time to absorb the evidence and review CCTV footage before passing sentence, which was set for October 16 next.

Munnelly was out on bail and on a suspended sentence at the time of the incident and had been drinking and snorting cocaine.

Mr Connolly was initially set on by another man and Munnelly with punches and kicks after making comments asking others if they ever watched child pornography.

However, during a protracted incident, Munnelly followed him and delivered a further blow that knocked him to the ground.

Detective Sergeant Kevin Craig said the child pornography remark was the catalyst that triggered Munnelly and co-accused David Higgins.

Higgins confronted him violently, and Munnelly joined in.

Unemployed father of one, Munnelly sat with his head bowed as the video evidence was shown of the entire incident, including the exact second capturing him talking to Connolly before launching a sudden left-handed punch to his temple, knocking him flat to the ground on his back.

He lingered in the area for about 20 minutes while others nearby tried to put Connolly in the recovery position.

Relatives of Mr Connolly gasped and wept at this point in the video evidence. Others were unable to watch and waited outside until that section was over.

Detective Sergeant Craig said that, as Mr Connolly lay unresponsive on the ground, a woman, who was a nurse, tried to revive him and performed CPR, but he never regained consciousness.

Mr Connolly also managed to land a couple of blows and tried to get to his hotel but was not allowed entry.

Footage showed the attack continued over 30 metres, with Connolly attempting to fend off the two men while receiving several kicks and punches, at one point being knocked to the ground and dragged.

He got to his feet again and attempted to make his way back to his hotel. Higgins had no further involvement.

The court heard he was heavily intoxicated, but that he continued to be followed by Munnelly, who stopped and spoke to him again before striking him to the head.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Prosecution counsel Cathal Ó Braonáin BL, instructed by Matt Shaw, State Solicitor for County Westmeath, submitted that the DPP's position was that the offence warranted a sentence of between four and ten years.

It emerged during the hearing that Munnelly was out on a suspended sentence and on bail at the time of the offence. His 102 previous convictions included one for trespass, five for drug crimes, 58 road traffic charges, 16 public order matters, five for criminal damage, two for assault causing harm, one for a threat to kill, nine for thefts, failing to appear in court, an offence under the Telecommunications Act, and one for burglary.

John Short SC, defending, argued that the nature of the case—including aspects of provocation stemming from child-sexualised remarks that triggered his client's own trauma—brought it, based on precedent, into a sentencing range of up to four years.

He also told the court that his client was not seeking leniency, but rather sympathy and a sentence applied strictly in accordance with the law.

Munnelly remained silent throughout the hearing.

His counsel added that an earlier suspended sentence had been activated after he went into custody on this matter, and requested that any sentence for the manslaughter be backdated to January 2025.

In a letter read to the court by his counsel, Munnelly expressed remorse and acknowledged the harm he caused the Connolly family.

He wrote, "I'm truly sorry. I never set out to hurt anyone. There are a lot of lives devastated over my actions. I feel terrible. It's like a nightmare I wake up to every day."

Mr Shortt said that remorse was borne out by his probation report, which also outlined the progress he had made in custody while awaiting sentencing, including addressing his drug and mental health issues and taking part in training courses.

Counsel also asked the court to note that the guilty plea spared the victim's family the trauma of enduring a lengthy trial, which could have involved up to 130 witnesses listed in the book of evidence.

Mr Connolly's sister read a moving victim impact statement to the court. Diane Lynch said her brother was "like a big kid" who was close to all his nephews and nieces and adored spending time with them.

She said that on August 13, 2022, everything changed. Mr Connolly had travelled to Athlone with a group to celebrate a friend's upcoming wedding, and what should have been a good night of "craic and laughter" became a night that destroyed their family. "He should have come home on a bus the next day with friends; instead, he came home in a hearse," she said, adding that no words could describe how they felt and that they never got a chance to say goodbye.

Ms Lynch noted that he had no underlying health issues at the time he lost his life, stating, "He is not a statistic." Stressing that he was well-known and loved in the Edenderry area, she said his death had left a hole that will never be filled, and that they needed justice for him.

Shauna Connolly, a niece of the deceased, recalled him as being a bridge between the generations in the family and, above all else, fun. She described how his death "ripped through the lives of others", leaving family members feeling anxious and fearful when loved ones go out.

"No sentence will take away the pain, but it will bring an end to the painful process and hopefully bring a modicum of relief for those who loved him," Ms Connolly said.

In December 2023, construction worker David Higgins, 18 at the time of the attack, of St Paul's Terrace, Athlone, was jailed for one year after he pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Mr Connolly and engaging in violent disorder during the first stage of the altercation.