Six years for blind man who strangled pensioner
A blind man has been sentenced to six years in prison by the Central Criminal Court for strangling a 60-year-old whose computers he was servicing.
Michael Byrne (aged 37) of Clonard Road, Crumlin, Dublin was charged with murdering Denis Brennan at Bow Bridge complex, Kilmainham, Dublin between July 5 and July 8 last year.
Byrne, who is legally blind but could see at the time of the killing, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to his manslaughter, and the state accepted this on provocation grounds.
Byrne told gardaí he was provoked into attacking his victim, after Mr Brennan showed him pornographic images and tried to grab his testicles.
He said he was installing sound drives on one of Mr Brennan’s computers, when the 60-year-old brought up pornographic images on his other computer. Byrne said he objected to and was offended by the images, some of which showed transsexuals and transvestites.
“Some of the people did not look 18,” he said. “I was almost getting sick.”
He said Mr Brennan later tried to grab his testicles, but it was when he grabbed his stomach, the most sensitive part of his body, that he reacted. The court heard that Byrne had undergone numerous surgical procedures on his abdomen, due to a painful, lifelong illness.
“I freaked. I just remember thinking: ‘Get your hands off me’. I just remember going for him,” he said.
Mr Justice Paul Carney described the case as particularly distressing for Mr Brennan’s family.
“The DPP accepted manslaughter on the basis of an account of events, which the family of Denis Brennan rejects,” he said. “The account was from the accused, which may or may not be self-serving, but which has to be accepted.”
He said he agreed with the DPP that the sentence should be at the low to mid range of severity and imposed a six-year sentence.
Byrne, who has become progressively blind throughout his life and wore dark glasses in court, used a cane for the blind as he was led away to begin his sentence.
