A man jailed for five years for an unprovoked attack on a former soldier, who died shortly afterwards, has succeeded in having nine months of his sentence suspended on appeal.
Martin McDonagh (26), Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, was unlawfully at large from Castlerea Prison when he attacked Noel Keegan (58) and his wife Marie Keegan in Longford town on New Year’s Eve 2009. Mr Keegan, who had just undergone surgery for an enlarged heart, died after the assault. A postmortem indicated his death could not be said beyond a reasonable doubt to have been precipitated by the assault.