A man was found guilty of manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court yesterday. However, he and his co-accused were found not guilty of murdering the Chinese victim.
James Harmer (27), Abbey Court Hostel, Bachelors Walk, Dublin, and Noel O'Flaherty (34), McCormack Gardens, Baldoyle, Co Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ly Minh Luong (50) at Temple Bar, Dublin, on August 19th, 2002.
The two had also pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Wei Dong (37), at Temple Bar, Dublin, on August 16th, 2002.
Harmer and O'Flaherty were both found guilty of causing harm to Mr Dong.
The jury unanimously found Harmer not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
During the 12-day trial, the court heard about the events on the night of August 16th that led to Mr Luong's death three days later.
Harmer and O'Flaherty both worked as doormen at the Abbey Court Hostel, where they were staying at the time.
On August 16th they had been to a few pubs and a nightclub and were heading home through Temple Bar around 2am.
Mr Dong, a former member of the Chinese Special Police and a martial arts expert, had followed his friend, Mr Luong, out of Club M to urge him to take a taxi home instead of driving.
Passing the men, Harmer said he "may have made a silly remark at some point".
He denied the remark was racist.
Mr Dong described the attack on him. "They punched me to the face and the body. My eyes were covered in blood, I couldn't see anything. I got a kick in the chest and fell to the ground."
The two accused walked away from the fight and went voluntarily to Pearse Street Garda station the next morning.
On August 19th, Mr Luong was taken off a life-support machine and died of severe brain injuries.
Harmer was remanded in custody for sentencing.