A man who beat another man to death with a pickaxe handle has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Pierce Byrne (32), of Hazelwood Crescent, Hartstown, Dublin 15, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Central Criminal Court to the manslaughter of John Murphy (29) in a Blanchardstown pub on April 15th, 2002.
The court heard a row broke out in the Buddha Bar in Blanchardstown after an allegation of child molestation was made by one of
a group containing Mr Murphy. The row moved outside the bar and developed into a fight involving Mr Murphy, his brother Mark, their friends, the accused and Terence Keogh.
Keogh is serving a ten-year sentence for his part in the attack after pleading guilty in 2005.
The court heard Byrne and Keogh took turns to beat the brothers with a pickaxe handle in an attack that lasted four to five minutes.
Byrne fled to London after the attack but handed himself in to police in Paddington Green station and was passed over to gardaí to be brought back to Ireland in 2003.
However, after his arrest he returned to England and was extradited back to prison where he has been since May 2005.
Byrne had 14 previous offences, including several for theft, common assault and drugs offences.