Midlands Man Jailed For Six And A Half Years Following Westmeath Attack

Paul "Babs" Connolly died following the assault which lasted for 21 minutes.

A Midlands man has been handed a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for killing a reveller who was "set on" and attacked with repeated punches and kicks while on a stag night in Athlone over four years ago.

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 protracted assault.

The 48-year-old single man, from Edenderry, Co. Offaly, was assaulted for 21 minutes along Church Street in the Co. Westmeath town in the early hours of August 13, 2022, after he had become separated from his group.

Sean Munnelly (40), of Irishtown, Athlone, but originally from Co. Roscommon, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the unlawful killing of the victim.

Sentencing at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court on Friday, Judge Deirdre Browne stressed that whatever offence had been caused by Mr Connolly's earlier remarks to people on the street asking if they watched child pornography, there was no provocation.

She recalled video evidence showing how Mr Connolly had been knocked to the ground three times by Munnelly and a co-accused. Several people on the street tried to intervene, but the assault continued.

At one point, members of Mr Connolly's stag party were present, and Munnelly could be seen back-slapping and shaking hands with them before continuing to confront Mr Connolly despite his vulnerable presentation.

The judge said the victim was "out of it", struggling at this stage, being both intoxicated and clearly injured and posing no threat to anyone.

The final piece of video evidence showed Munnelly circling the deceased, gesticulating aggressively before delivering a left-handed punch that connected to the right side of the victim's head, rendering him unconscious.

Mr Connolly died in an ambulance en route to the hospital. A witness overheard Munnelly saying, "F****** deserved it, no one pisses me off," as he walked away.

She said there could be "no provocation for the blow other than the accused having wound himself up in a rage in the course of whatever diatribe he was delivering."

She noted there was a litany of kicks and punches beforehand and did not regard the fatal incident as resulting from a single blow.

Judge Browne commiserated with members of the Connolly family and said their victim impact statements described a much-loved character, and their eloquent testimony spoke of a life well lived.

The judge considered a series of aggravating factors as she imposed a seven-year sentence. Noting the accused's genuine remorse and the mitigating factors raised in defence submissions, she suspended the final six months for one year.

She backdated the sentence to February 27, 2024, to account for time served on remand.

Unemployed father of one, Munnelly was out on bail and on a suspended sentence at the time of the incident and had been drinking and snorting cocaine; he changed his plea to guilty in June, just as a jury was about to be empanelled for an anticipated four-week trial.

The court heard Mr Connolly was initially set on by another man and Munnelly with punches and kicks after making comments about child pornography.

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.

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 denied entry.

CCTV 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 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.

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.

Munnelly previously apologised in a letter read out in court. 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."

John Shortt SC, defending, 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.

Senior counsel submitted that the guilty plea spared the victim's family the trauma of 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 got his nickname because he was the youngest in his family and "like a big kid".

Nieces and nephews adored him, and the family was devastated that they never got a chance to say goodbye.

Shauna Connolly, a niece of the deceased, described how his death "ripped through the lives of others", leaving family members feeling anxious and fearful when loved ones go out.

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.