A 16 year old boy has been sentenced to 10 years detention after he pleaded guilty to the murder of a 33 year old man in Limerick almost two years ago.
Pat “Happy” Coleman was attacked in the early hours of September 3rd 2007 as he made his way home.
The Kildare father of two was confronted by a group of teenagers and was then slashed in the neck at the hands of one of the teens who used a broken bottle in what was described as a ‘sustained attack’. Gardai arrested and charged a teenager with the murder on May 30th of 2008.
The Central Criminal Court had previously heard of how the defendant broke down in tears as he pleaded guilty to the murder. The details of the incident were explained to the court,
“The court heard Pat Coleman was making his way home after a day’s drinking following the All-Ireland. He came across a group of teenage boys drinking and, as he passed them by, he knocked one of their bottles. The youth became very angry and confronted Mr Coleman, who carried on walking.
The youth picked up a bottle and broke it and followed him. The other boys followed behind. The youth swung at him with a broken bottle and stabbed him in the neck, after which he and the others ran away.”
Via independent.ie.
The victim managed to crawl to his home where he died due to loss of blood.
The young defendant, who cannot be named due to his age, said in court he never intended to kill Mr. Coleman but only to “frighten him”.
Handing down sentence today, Mr Justice Paul Carney said the killing was “cruel and gratuitous in nature”, adding the teen could have received life were it not for his young age.
Speaking outside court, the victim’s family described a loving father but said they are haunted by the fact he died alone.
Mr. Coleman worked as a scaffolder and lived in Carew Park which he had moved to, from Kildare, in 2006.
I have been reading some articles about this case because I know the youth involved and I sympathise with the members of this mans family on the loss of their family member .And while their son died a horrific death, I personally know this child he did not set out to kill this man.He is an extremely nice, quiet, well brought up youg boy who presented himself with his parents when he heard what his actions had caused.
In 1 article it said he has shown no remorse, he has been nothing but remorseful since it happened. In truth, he did change his statement but can anyone reading this tell me, what child that knows he has done something wrong would not lie to try get himself out of it? It might have taken time for him to admit to the actual murder of this man but he did, he has no previous convictions and has not posed as a problem to anybody since this life changing night, life changing, not only for the Coleman family but also for this child and his family.
He is being made out to be a heartless thug which is the furthest thing from the truth,his Mam, Dad, younger siblings, girlfriend and extended family love him to bits and are traumatised by the nightmare this unfortunate night has turned, not only Mr. Colemans family but all of their lives into.
Whilst every body, including himself, knew the boy had done wrong and was facing his punishment because of it, where is the justice in saying he would have gotten a mandatory life sentence for his wrong doing, while at the same time in Cork two brothers going on trail for the brutal frienzied murder of a man in Killarney, the older brother was aquitted and the younger charged with manslaughter??
Isn’t it a sad sign of the timrs we are living in, when you do something wrong and are punished firstly because of where you are from rather than the crime you have commited??
“Isn’t it a sad sign of the timrs we are living in, when you do something wrong and are punished firstly because of where you are from rather than the crime you have commited??”
Excuse me? He murdered an innocent man, and you’re trying to say he’s being punished because of where he’s from? Bullshit.
I would have hoped that taking a life would mean life imprisonment, but instead this little creep gets away with just 10 years.
And please don’t try to paint him as some misunderstood frightened child. He was man enough to swing a broken bottle at someones neck, so what exactly did he expect would happen?
I have no remorse for the kid at all, and I hope his 10 years in prison are complete and utter misery, every single day from when he wakes up to when he goes to sleep. Mr Colemans family will still be missing him in 10 years time but they won’t ever have a chance of seeing him again because of this scum..
Have you never made a mistake or done something you are not proud of cos this child obviously has and the point I was trying to make was not that he has a Halo but just that, he made a terrible mistake and he will regret it for the rest of his life, as will the family of Mr. Coleman. He is far from the scum you think he is and I ask you, who are you to judge when you dont know him?
Look into the mirror and tell me that you are perfect an that you never have or never will make a mistake that you will regret because none of us knows what tomorrow holds and on the night of 6th sept 07 when his parents went to bed they did not know what devastation the morning was going to bring to their lives.
And yes he was punished for his crime but also for where he was from or are you telling me that the 2 men in court in Cork that day got the punishment they deserved, its a case of’different strokes for different folks’ in this countries judicial system all the time. I wonder what those lads would have been charged with and what there sentence would have been like, had they been from Limerick?
Im glad that something as tragic as this has never come to your door and for the sake of your perfection, I hope it never does but should you have the misfortune of ever knowing someone who finds themselves in this horrific position, I hope you can recall my words and remember your reply and realise how wrong you are about htis boy. At the same time you are entitled to your opinion but not a judgement, this boy is not and never was scum.He made a bad decision one night in his very young life that changed the lives of a lot of people and now he, his family and the coleman family are suffering the consequences. Can you put the mind of an adult on the shoulders of a child??
K Aherne says:
“Look into the mirror and tell me that you are perfect an that you never have or never will make a mistake that you will regret because none of us knows what tomorrow holds”
I can tell you that I wont stab an icocent man into the neck with a broken bottle. .. [Mod edit: less of that]
Am I perfect? Of course not. But when it comes to confrontation, only a coward reaches for a weapon. And only a scumbag uses one when it hasn’t even been provoked. He has taken a mans life and ruined the lives of his victims family, so I have every right to judge him as a scumbag.
“Im glad that something as tragic as this has never come to your door and for the sake of your perfection, I hope it never does but should you have the misfortune of ever knowing someone who finds themselves in this horrific position, I hope you can recall my words and remember your reply and realise how wrong you are about htis boy”
Why don’t you try telling that to Mr Colemans family? I’m sure they’d love to hear your sob stories about the poor little boy who everyone has the wrong idea about. I mean he just murdered a man with a broken bottle, no big deal eh, cause he’s just a poor little boy.
If it it were my child that did something like this, I would disown him straight out. If it was one of my relatives killed by this little s**t, I would be the one going to jail because he would be going to the graveyard.
You can make excuses for him all you want, but he lost all rights to sympathy when he decided to act the big man in front of his friends.
All I have to say to that is, No you do not have the right to judge,who died and made you God? And, you can’t say that you would disown your son if he found himself in this position because obviously you have never been in this position, Do you even have a son??No one can say how they would react until a situation comes to their door.
And for your information, when Mrs.Coleman was asked how she felt about the boy who done this to her son, she replied”He is some mother’s son too.” This shows this Lady, in the height of her loss, has a heart, just like every other mother. No one sends their children out to do wrong but sometimes it happens and its the families involved that have to live with the consequences.
And when all is said and done,you call this child a scumbag and then say you would be prepared to do the same thing under different circumstances…
I made no excuses for what he done, I pointed out that he did not purposely set out to do it.I’d love to know what kind of child you were, did you never show bravado in front of your friends as a child? Again, a model of perfection.I really hope that nothing bad ever comes to your door, and nobody ever judges you or yours for their actions, i don’t think you wold be able to cope with it.What I wrote in my first comment was my opinion of a bad situation that someone I know has found themselves in, as I have already stated, you are entitled to yours, this doesn’t change mine. Im sure there are plenty of people out there with your way of thinking, as there are also plenty with the same opinion as mine…..
@ K Aherne
I know this youth too and he is a scumbag,….[Mod Edit: Can't have that]…., didnt this scumbag run 300 yards to stab this man in the face, how can you call this a mistake, the mistake was getting caught, I hope he rots in prison, dirty scumbag…….
by the way im not judging anyone, im telling you how it is, you live in a dream world if you think this scumbag doesnt deserve lfe in prison
There is nothing wrong with the youth hes not a scumbag you musent know him that well
Sick people ye are judging a 16yr old
Sad lives if ye had lives ye wouldnt be talking about children.
K Aherne says:
“Im sure there are plenty of people out there with your way of thinking, as there are also plenty with the same opinion as mine…..”
I doubt there are ‘plenty’ out there with the same view as yourself. Im sure most people hope that the little scumbag rots and suffers for the pain he inflicted on a poor innocent man and his family.
K Aherne: Its not a mistake if you stick the sharp end of a broken bottle in a persons neck,if he’s such a sweetly innocent,…. [MOD EDIT: You'll understand why i cant publish that as it may identify him before any trial that may take place]..
I think the comments being posted by certain people are very wrong here. The media (as per usual) are taking advantage of the situation and will print anything to bring people and in this case(Limerick) down. Of course this was a terrible thing to happen and I can not even begin to imagine how mr coleman’s family feels. However i do not agree with the negative derogatory comments towards the sixteen year old in question. He has a family too and i know they have remorse for what has happened. The media hasnt shown how the sixteen year old expressed deep remorse and said he wished he could take back what he did so the victim’s family didn’t have to suffer. But, once again it is a case of kick him when he’s down. I’m not saying that what happened is acceptable in any way but it was a mistake by a very young person who really is sorry for what he has done. I just wish that the people leaving very negative comments here could stop for a minute and realise that this boy’s family are suffering too and that he was a child when it happened and still is. They are sorry for what happened.Saying these things are only making the whole situation worse for all involved and it isnt necessary at all.
The more people keep coming out with this shit of “he’s only a child”, the longer we will have to be reading stories like this one. There are little sc*mbags as young as 8 and 9 terrorising estates in Limerick, but they can’t be touched because “they’re only children”. Then rats like this one stab a man in the neck causing his death, and there are people on here screaming “think of the children”. Its sickening to say the least.
Why don’t you think of the victim here? Why are people trying to garner symapthy for a sc*mbag, yes a “sc*mbag”, who deliberatley followed a man up the street to stab him in the neck? And K Aherne, don’t drag this into some stupid debate like “did you never show bravado in front of your friends?”. Yeah I did, but it was usually with a bike and and a height of some sort, never violence.
You can cry about his age all you want and how he’s misunderstood, poor child etc etc blah blah blah. Here’s the thing: nobody cares. He caused the death of a man for the sake of a cretinous display in front of his friends. I hope he rots for 10 years.
As for sympathy for a man who has killed one off your family, I don’t understand this at all. Its weakness in my eyes. I wouldn’t be forgiving someone who had stolen a member of my family so cruelly. I’d wait 70 years if neccesary to get my hands on him.
Thats it, comments closed, too many people trying to post different comments under multiple names.
Thanks for all your contributions.