The 47-year-old man who beat Kilbeggan pensioner Christy Hanley to death has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Noel Cawley, of no fixed abode but originally from Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, was given a concurrent 12-year sentence for the robbery of around €10,000 from Mr Hanley’s home on the same date, May 21, 2008.
Cawley was found guilty in May of the manslaughter of Mr Hanley at his home on Bridge Street, Kilbeggan.
Mr Hanley was found dead on his living room floor having been beaten on the head, shoulders, arms and legs. His hands and feet were tied.
The 83-year-old was well known in the area as a horse trader who carried large amounts of cash. Cawley came into contact with him in various pubs in Kilbeggan during the day on May 21 last year, and was seen lurking around his house later that evening.
He phoned Tullamore Garda station from Dublin the next morning stating that Mr Hanley was tied up in his home.
Handing down the sentence, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the crime was “of the utmost seriousness”. The “one modest mitigating factor”, he said, was the phonecall that Cawley made to Gardai the morning after the attack.
In deciding on a sentence, he pointed out that Cawley did not cooperate with gardai during the investigation, and that there was an element of premeditation.
He also said Cawley had a number of violent crimes in his past including theft, burglary, larceny, malicious damage, and attempted rape.
Mr Hanley’s niece Breda Harvey said the family was happy with the sentence; “It won’t bring Christy back, but at least he’s going to be locked up for a long time,” she said.
