Judge jails man for four years for killing another man with a hurley

A MAN who killed another man by landing a blow to his head with a hurley in a secluded city park was jailed for four years yesterday.

Damien Organ (25) and his brother, Liam (28), of William Street in Waterford city, were involved in a violent dispute involving weapons at a hidden spot in the People’s Park in Waterford on March 21st, 2010

Martin O’Brien (22) had admitted to smoking “bonsai” from a head shop and to drinking before he unlawfully killed Damien with what Judge Rory MacCabe yesterday said “may have been a fluke blow”.

Former friends O’Brien and Kieron Deegan (20), who had lived together at a flat in the Quay in the city, had been tried at the Circuit Criminal Court in March for killing Damien Organ.

The men had only been living together for one day before getting involved in the brutal row that led to the death of Damien, who had gone to the park to stand up for his brother in a pre-arranged showdown with O’Brien.

The court had heard O’Brien and Deegan arranged for weapons – two hurleys and a hockey stick – to be brought to the park. The trial heard that Damien was fatally injured with a hurley in the fight, as he ran at O’Brien with an implement in his hand.

The row started because Liam Organ had owed €350 to an ex-girlfriend, Kate Clancy, a friend of O’Brien’s.

In the hours before the incident at the park, texts between Ms Clancy and Liam Organ, along with texts between the latter and O’Brien, became increasingly threatening and violent.

Judge MacCabe yesterday said Ms Clancy “must carry this on her conscience as well”.

He added: “If she had not been so eager to share what I might call her dirty little secrets [texts] with Martin O’Brien and others, the deceased might be alive today.”

The judge handed down a seven-year sentence to O’Brien but suspended the last three years. Meanwhile, Deegan was found guilty of assault causing harm to Damien Organ but innocent of his manslaughter and of assaulting Liam Organ.

Judge MacCabe said Deegan engaged in “a cowardly act” when he landed a blow to Damien’s back, while he was on the ground. However, this “in no way” caused the man’s death.

He handed down a 12-month sentence, suspending it for a period of three years, and bound Deegan to keep the peace for that period. Liam Organ received a two-year sentence, suspended for a period of two years.

The judge said: “There are no winners . . . Some have lost more than others but everybody involved lost something.”