A Co Offaly man convicted of the manslaughter of a "decent young man" has been jailed for 12 years at the Central Criminal Court.
Oliver Coleman, described as a "violent man" who is serving sentences for prior assaults, had been found not guilty of the murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Michael Rosney (20).
Mr Rosney's family said they had lost faith in the justice system and felt let down.
Coleman (36), Cloniffeen, Shannonbridge, Co Offaly, shot Mr Rosney dead at a cider party at a house in Beechgrove Estate, Birr, Co Offaly, in August 2001.
The trial had heard that Mr Rosney, from Tullamore, turned up at the cider party as Coleman slept on a mattress. When Coleman woke up, he had a row with Mr Rosney, whom he did not know. Coleman drove eight miles to his mobile home, retrieved an old shotgun then returned to the scene and fired the fatal shot into Mr Rosney's chest.
Yesterday Supt Charles Devine said Coleman was "regarded as a violent person with a very violent temper". He had a number of convictions for assault.
At the time of the killing, he was fighting extradition to England on charges relating to an incident in 1989. In May last year, he was jailed for assaulting three gardaí and has served 12 months.
Supt Devine told Mr John Edwards SC, prosecuting, that Mr Rosney was a "decent young man" from a "law-abiding family". He had "never given his family any problems".
Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, said his client had expressed remorse. He said Coleman, a father of one, was of low intelligence, marginally above mildly mentally handicapped.
Jailing Coleman for 12 years, Mr Justice O'Neill said he took account of his bad character and temperament and also mitigating factors, including his low IQ and remorse. He said the appropriate sentence, given "the gravity of the offence" resulting in the loss of human life, was 12 years.
He imposed two five-year terms on two counts of unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life on August 23rd, 2001, the sentences to run concurrently.
Leave to appeal was refused.
Afterwards, Mr Rosney's parents said they were disappointed that at the trial in May, the jury had been directed to consider manslaughter when it failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the murder charge after 10 hours. "The gardaí did a great job but what happened in court was a total disaster," Ms Janette Rosney said.