Sentence due in 12-year-old Kerry killing case
An Englishman who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a 19-year-old man in Kerry 12 years ago, will be sentenced for the killing tomorrow.
Robert Anthony (aged 61), with a previous address at Derrylough, Tuosist, Kenmare, fatally stabbed Philip O’Sullivan during a scuffle at his home on August 22, 1997.
Detective Barry O'Rourke, Killarney, told the Central Criminal Court today that Anthony had moved to the Kenmare area from London in 1991.
He had a long history of criminal activity and had a number of previous convictions. He lived near the victim, whom he had known for many years, and was also familiar with the victim’s family.
Detective O’Rourke described how, at one stage, there had been tension between the two men because of a relationship the victim had had with a former girlfriend of Anthony’s, but that the pair had reconciled their differences in this regard some months prior.
The court was told that on the day of the killing, Anthony, his then girlfriend Miranda Moynihan, and Mr Philips had been socialising at bars in the Kenmare area.
At around 9pm on the night of the killing, Robert Anthony, Miranda Moynihan and her young daughter had travelled in Anthony’s car. Later Philip O’Sullivan arrived at Anthony’s home. He let himself in through the back entrance of the house. Robert Anthony emerged from the bathroom to find Mr O’Sullivan and Ms. Moynihan talking in the kitchen.
Anthony asked Mr O’ Sullivan to leave and when he refused, Anthony reached for a knife and threatened Mr O’Sullivan. The deceased man struck a blow to Anthony’s stomach. A scuffle broke out between the two men during which Anthony stabbed the victim in the groin area.
Philip O’Sullivan was helped to his feet by Miranda Moynihan. He then walked out of the front door of the house, staggered a few feet, collapsed and died. The weapon was later retrieved by gardaí from a window sill.
The court heard that Anthony was arrested over the incident and that he had told gardaí he deeply regretted his actions. However he later skipped bail and fled to Turkey. He later moved back to the UK where he was sentenced to 12 years in prison by Harrow Crown Court for a number of offences, including robbery. He was extradited to Ireland on June 13, 2008, having served his sentence.
In a victim impact statement to the court, Ms Joanne O’Sullivan, the victim’s sister, who was just 14 at the time of the killing, said her brother’s death had left an "everlasting void" in their lives.
She said her family had suffered enormously as the result of her parents’ losing a “fantastic son”, and her “a fantastic brother”. She was visibly upset as she revealed how her brother’s absence in their lives was, at times, overwhelming. Ms O’Sulllivan also told the court of her brother’s passion for music and sport, as a keen accordion player and amateur boxer.
Defence counsel Mr Hugh Hartnett S.C, submitted a letter in which Mr Anthony apologised to the court and to Mr O’Sullivan’s family for his actions. He said he deeply regretted his “unforgivable actions” which he said would “haunt” him forever.
The letter went on to read that following Mr O’Sullivan’s death he sank into a world of drug addiction in an attempt to escape.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said he did not know whether Anthony’s letter of apology acted “as a mitigation or an aggravation” given that the victim’s family had been robbed of justice for 12 years.
Mr Hartnett asked that when imposing an appropriate sentence, the court consider Anthony is now in his 60s and has already served a lengthy prison term for separate criminal offences in the UK.
Anthony was remanded for sentencing tomorrow.
