A Co Down man was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment at Galway Circuit Criminal Court yesterday for the manslaughter of three elderly sisters who died in a house fire on Inishbofin nearly two years ago.
Passing sentence, Judge Carroll Moran said this was as horrific a case as ever came before the Circuit Court, where the lives of the three women were needlessly and uselessly lost, and all because the accused was mad at being ejected from a public house on the island.
Alan Murphy (27), from Spelga Avenue, Newcastle, Co Down, had denied the manslaughter of Mrs Eileen Coyne (81), and her two sisters, Mrs Bridget McFadden (80) and Miss Margaret Concannon (72), at Mrs Coyne's home at Middle Quarter, Inishbofin, on July 6th, 1999. He also denied setting fire to Mrs Coyne's house on the same date, endangering the lives of the three sisters.
Judge Moran sentenced him to 14 years on each of the three counts of manslaughter, to run concurrently. He backdated the sentence to January 31st, 2000, as Murphy has been in custody since then.
The 10-day trial in March had heard evidence from 50 State witnesses, mostly islanders, who recounted the events leading up to the fire, which engulfed Mrs Coyne's house in the early hours of July 6th, 1999.
A jury of six women and six men took 21/2 days to reach a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts, and the case was adjourned until yesterday for sentencing.
At yesterday's hearing, Supt Tony O'Dowd said the crime had a devastating effect, not only on the family of the three dead women, but on the people of Inishbofin as well. The burntout house had not been repaired and was a grim reminder of what had happened.
There were four surviving brothers and one surviving sister of the three women, while Mrs McFadden had three children and 10 grandchildren, he said.
"The people of Inishbofin are normally very open and welcoming, but as a result of this crime, the open-door policy has gone. People have become more careful and they lock their doors now, even though they are still welcoming," Supt O'Dowd said.
Mr Anthony Sammon SC, for the accused, said the awful and awesome tragedy was something Murphy was deeply aware of and would have to carry with him on a daily basis through life. "However, he has the rest of his life to enjoy, whereas his victims were deprived of whatever balance as they had left to them," Mr Sammon said.
He said the defence was not offering the over-consumption of alcohol as a mitigating circumstance but there had been evidence during the trial of "innocent intoxication" and that Murphy had been under the influence of more than just alcohol.
Judge Moran refused leave to appeal against the severity of the sentence.