Mentally Ill Man Given Life For Manslaughter

A man who killed a fellow inmate at Mountjoy prison while mentally ill has been sentenced to life.

Stephen Egan, 25, of Belcamp Crescent, Coolock, Dublin, was jailed for the manslaughter of 20-year old Dubliner Gary Douche.

Egan brutally beat the young prisoner on August 1, 2006, leaving him to die in the cell as he went to bed listening to his walkman.

Despite the viciousness of the attack, last April, following a two-day trial, a jury found Egan not guilty of Mr Douche's murder, but guilty of his manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

The judge said that although Egan's responsibility was found by the jury to have been diminished, he had to consider the extent of the danger posed to the public.

Detective Sergeant Mike Smith said that Egan, Mr Douche and five others entered the cell the night before, and were last attended to by prison officers at 10.15pm.

When the two officers returned to the holding cell shortly after 6am, they found Mr Douche unresponsive.

He was pronounced dead at 7.35am at the Mater Hospital, and Egan was arrested and interviewed.

The State pathologists post-mortem examination indicated that Mr Douche died of blunt-force trauma to the head and neck.

Mr Douche's family last night said that he should never have died and called on the authorities and Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to ensure a similar incident would never happen again.

(DW/BMcc)