Carrigaline man Matt O'Neill's family says justice was not done as killers jailed for four years
In December Attacked After January 8, Being 28, O'neill 2022 On Died On 2023, Carrigaline Matt
The killers of a young man in Carrigaline, Co Cork, were jailed on Wednesday for four years as the victim's family called for a review of legislation and sentencing, saying the sentence did not amount to justice.
Ricardo Hoey, of 7 Ardcarrig, Carrigaline, Co Cork, and Jordan Deasy, of 41 Ravensdale, Heron's Wood, were both sentenced to seven years, with the last three years of that sentence suspended, for the manslaughter of Matt O’Neill, 29, in December 2022.
The dead man’s father said on behalf of himself and his wife Eileen outside the court afterwards: “Our son Matt was the victim of an unhesitating, precise and brutal attack by two men. Matt was punched and kicked in a mindless, senseless, cowardly act as he lay defenceless on the road. Every blow and kick was to Matt’s head.
“Life is precious and fragile and should be protected. While no sentence can ever bring our son back, the sentence handed down today does not amount to justice for such a brutal, violent and fatal assault against our son.
“We call on our Justice Department and our minister for justice to review the legislation and sentencing for these horrific and brutal attacks. As a result of this attack, our only son is dead.
“Respect for the lives of our loved ones is not enhanced by insufficient consequences for those who live by a violent code and without respect for life.”
Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford said at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork on Wednesday that as a child the deceased man, Matt O’Neill, could swim before he could walk and went on to save lives in sea rescues, not least once when he was only 13 years old, saving three people and that following his killing his family made the decision to have his organs donated, thus saving three further lives following his own death.
The judge said in relation to the two men being sentenced for his manslaughter: “Aggravating factors included the fact that Matt O’Neill was entirely defenceless, they had an opportunity to retreat and did not take it and the violence they used was entirely unnecessary and gratuitous.”
Mitigating factors considered by Mr Justice Lankford were the fact both accused were teenagers at the time of the manslaughter, the assault was brief, they did not set out with the intention to carry out this crime and no weapon was involved.
Ricardo Hoey, 21, and 20-year-old Jordan Deasy both pleaded not guilty to the single charge against them, namely that on December 28, 2022, at Glenwood estate, Carrigaline, Co Cork, they did murder 29-year-old Matt O’Neill, contrary to common law.
But on May 16, a jury of six men and six women found after deliberations that were spread across 10 days that both men were not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of 29-year-old Matt O’Neill in Carrigaline on December 28, 2022. It was a majority 10-2 verdict against Mr Hoey and an 11-1 majority verdict of the same kind against Jordan Deasy.
The family of the Carrigaline manslaughter victim are haunted by the loneliness and fear he must have felt after being attacked near his home and they are heartbroken at how he struggled to survive after the life support machine was turned off — living on for 29 minutes — one minute for each year of his life.
Detective Garda Bríd Norris summarised the background to the killing of Matt O’Neill as he was walking home at 5.39pm that day — in an incident that ended a minute later.
He was carrying a bottle of wine he had purchased at the local petrol station store. The victim was intoxicated and Ricardo Hoey, who was driving his Opel Corsa, shouted at him to move out of the way a number of times and sounded the car horn before getting out and pushing him in the face and chest, causing him to fall to a seated position.
Jordan Deasy then punched him twice — the first punch connecting well, the second not connecting properly. Ricarda Hoey then kicked him in the head when he was lying back on his elbows. He was unconscious following the kick to the head.
The detective said when a man approached and asked what happened, Ricardo Hoey said the man on the ground would not get out of the way of the car.
As soon as gardaí were called, the two defendants left the scene. A doctor passing by offered assistance before paramedics arrived and the victim was taken to Cork University Hospital, where he died on January 8, 2023.
Ricardo Hoey and his mother Leona Hoey called to gardaí, and the defendant made admissions about his involvement in an assault within less than an hour of it occurring.
Jordan Deasy went into hiding and was found in Crosshaven on December 31, 2022, and when interviewed he also made admissions about his involvement in the assault.
Det Garda Norris said one piece of CCTV from the area at the relevant time was particularly significant, showing Matt O’Neill was pushed to the ground by Ricardo Hoey and any further punches or kicks occurred when he was on the ground.
When Jordan Deasy was interviewed he accepted the late Mr O’Neill was defenceless, that the assault was unnecessary, cowardly and unfair, and Mr O’Neill was not a threat to them on the ground.
Hoey had no previous convictions. Jordan Deasy had 11, including one for assault causing harm, which occurred in December 2021. At the time of the attack on Matt O’Neill on December 28, 2022, Hoey was 19 and is now 21, Deasy was 18 and is now 20.
Tom Creed senior counsel for Hoey said: “I have to accept the violence was gratuitous and the victim was defenceless. It was not planned, this is something that happened over a very brief period.”
Brendan Grehan, for Deasy, said for a young person “the enormous burden that one has taken a life” could be difficult to accept.
“For Mr Deasy, this would have been a very sobering experience having been on a feckless course in his life… There was no intention to kill or cause serious injury,” he said.
Mr Grehan and Mr Creed both stressed the two accused had offered pleas of guilty to manslaughter before the trial but this was not accepted by the DPP.
The late Matt O’Neill’s father, Patrick, also praised the work of the gardaí in this case: “I have never seen a group of people work so cohesively. Every one of them worked 100% with cohesion and dedication that was astonishing to watch.”