'Beloved' victim's family 'left with life sentence' as martial arts instructor jailed for one-punch killing

Mr Mullally and another man Shane Cunningham had been out celebrating Mr Mullally's retirement from Guinness weeks earlier when they encountered Dargan on the Harold's Cross Rd., Dublin at around 4am on March 6, 2016.

When Dargan began “swinging” punches Mr Mullally put his hands up to shield himself. At least one punch connected with him, shattering his jaw and cheekbone and knocking him to the ground.

Mr Mullally suffered a subdural haemorrhage and brain trauma due to a blunt trauma to the face and head and died the next day.

The defendant, a Taekwondo instructor who has worked as a doorman at Lillie's Bordello nightclub for two decades, admitted “lashing out” with a punch. He claimed that he was surrounded by the men and felt in fear and was acting in self defence.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Dargan shouted “bang bang” as he threw “fairly powerful” punches at the men. Justice Pauline Codd said this was a particularly chilling aspect of the case and evidence of a man who was in control of the situation and not somebody in fear.

She said the jury had rejected Dargan's defence that he was in fear and felt he was being surrounded and that the independent CCTV evidence also showed this not to be the case.

She noted that Dargan's martial arts training meant he had a knowledge of the force and impact of his own strength and capacity. She said for a man with this strength and capacity to strike a defenceless and intoxicated man was an aggravating factor.

She said the victims were entirely innocent and had approached Dargan to assist a woman and to “do the honourable thing”. The violence was unwarranted and Dargan was in a state of intoxication and an angry mood.

A passing cyclist told the trial that when he had earlier stopped at the rowing couple, Dargan had told him he to “fuck off and mind his own business” and that “he'd kill him or stamp on his head on the ground”.

Judge Codd noted in mitigation Dargan had led a blameless life up to this point and that he had shown great support and strength to his family when his own mother was the innocent victim of a fatal shooting by a neighbour.

She suspended the final six months of a six year prison term.

Dargan of Belfry Manor, Citywest, Dublin denied the unlawful killing of Mr Mullally. He also denied assault causing harm to Mr Cunningham and to Mr Mullally's niece, Lauren Mullally, during the same incident.

He has no previous convictions and the court heard his own mother was killed by a neighbour a few years earlier. The killer was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.

At the sentence hearing on Monday Vincent Heneghan SC, defending, told Judge Codd that his client accepts the jury verdict and that he indicated this to gardaí in court on the day the guilty verdict was delivered.

Mr Heneghan said his client was not a person who drank regularly but on the night he was very intoxicated, having consumed cocktails and double vodka drinks. Counsel said alcohol was not an excuse or a defence but it was a factor in the events.

Reading from her own victim impact statement Mr Mullaly's widow Joan Shields repeatedly broke down in tears as she described the the effects of the “brutal” killing.

She said bringing their young daughter in the hospital to see her father one last time was the hardest thing she has had to do. Ms Shields' described having to wait over three years for the case to come to trial.

When it did, her daughter asked “why is there a trial, did he not admit he hit Daddy?”. Ms Shields described reading a newspaper interview a week after the killing in which Dargan begged for forgiveness.

She said Mr Mullaly will now miss watching their daughter grow up and said “I'll never be able to forgive him for that”.

Courtney Mullaly told the court that the violent death of her uncle has left many of the family suffering from anxiety, depression and PTSD.

She described the gut wrenching loss and sadness of the family grief and said some family members have experienced suicidal thoughts.

She described the deceased as a “devoted Dad, caring brother, fun uncle” and “one of the happiest, friendliest persons you'd ever meet”.

She said the night of his retirement party was meant to be the first day of a new life but instead it became a shattering nightmare.

He was killed trying to do the chivalrous thing. One person ripped several lives apart with his bare hands.

Mr Heneghan handed in a number of character references from family and employers and contacts from Dargan's role as a martial arts instructor.

He said his client accepts fully his responsibility for the death of the victim but did not intend to kill him. When he heard of the death he immediately conveyed his apologies to the family.

Last November the jury took a little over four hours to return a unanimous guilty verdict on the manslaughter charge. After deliberating for another hour the jury returned a majority verdict on the charge of assaulting Mr Cunningham.

Mary Mullally, sister of the victim Patrick Mullally, made a statement afterwards, saying: "We as a family would like to take this opportunity to thank Judge Pauline Codd, the jury of 12 people who came to a unanimous decision, the prosecution team - led by Fiona Murphy S.C., all the witnesses who came forward and who contributed to getting Paddy justice, all the volunteers at Victim Support at Court, the Gardaí, AdVIC, Dublin Fire Brigade and the medical team at St. James Hospital that cared so well for Paddy.

"We'll be forever grateful.

Four years later we're still absolutely devastated by the loss of our beloved Paddy.

"His life revolved around being a devoted dad, caring brother, fun uncle and a cherished friend. We as a family miss him everyday but there is also a huge group of friends who are grieving alongside us.

"No matter what happened today, sadly we're left with a life sentence."