Deaf mute jailed for killing man crushed by bus

By Conor Gallagher and Angela Mullin

A HOMELESS deaf mute man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for killing an acquaintance by knocking him under a bus in Dublin.

On handing down the sentence, Judge Patrick McCartan commented that he had no choice but to imprison Edward Connors (30) as he was a "serious danger to society".

A Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury previously found Connors guilty following an eight-day manslaughter trial. Connors had pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing Eoghan Dudley (28) on December 6, 2012. Mr Dudley died almost instantly from "catastrophic and traumatic injuries" after going under the left rear wheel of the bus on Dawson Street during rush hour traffic.

Rehabilitation

Judge McCartan previously requested Connors be assessed for rehabilitation services in the UK. The court had heard that there are no specific rehabilitation services for deaf people in Ireland.

Ronan Kennedy BL, for the DPP, told Judge McCartan that rehabilitation services for deaf people in Ireland would not be put in place by the Government until 2016.

On handing down the sentence, Judge McCartan commented that Connors "cannot but be described as a victim" in this case, as he was deaf since childhood and grew up in an environment where there was no opportunity for learning of any sort, leaving him with severe communication difficulties.

He also commented that Connors was at serious risk of re-offending as the 30-year-old's past is peppered with "acts of aggression, violence and a single significant loss of life".

Connors, of no fixed abode and formerly of Bearna Park, Sandyford, admitted interacting with the deceased but claimed that what looked like a punch on CCTV footage is actually him trying to grab Mr Dudley to stop him falling off the path and going under the bus.

Connors also previously pleaded guilty to two counts of using a syringe to cause injury or threaten to cause injury at Balally Shopping Centre, Sandyford on May 17, 2012 and at Lotts Lane on August 18, 2012. Judge McCartan sentenced him to two years, to run concurrently, on each of these counts.

Treatment

Previously Dr Brendan Thomas Monteiro, a consultant psychiatrist in the field of mental health and deafness, said that there is a facility in the UK suitable to treat Connors.

Defence Counsel, Oisin Clarke BL, later told Judge McCartan that Connors was unable to be assessed for treatment in the UK due to legal issues and that funding from the State was not available for his rehabilitation.

Dr Monteiro said that if Connors does not get the treatment he needs he will revert to his old ways of living after he serves a prison sentence.

hnews@herald.ie