He was due to stand trial for the murder of 21-year-old Lorcan O’Reilly but his manslaughter plea was accepted.
The boy, who can’t be named because of his age, was just shy of his 15th birthday when he stabbed Lorcan O’Reilly twice at a Halloween bonfire at the Oliver Bond complex in Dublin 2015.
Mr. O’Reilly was rushed to hospital but lost his fight for life the following day.
The court heard the boy had been mouthing off and left the complex when Lorcan took a hurley off him, but that he returned with a knife.
Today, Mr. Justice Patrick McCarthy noted that the boy’s plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter was accepted by the DPP, but he said he had to consider the fact that he brought a deadly weapon to the complex.
The accused is a child, he said, and a custodial sentence should always be a last resort. But he went on to say that it was obvious in this case that a period of detention was appropriate.
When he sentenced him to six years with the final 18 months suspended, the boy’s mother burst into tears.
He’ll spend the next two years at Oberstown Detention Centre but will be moved to an adult prison when he turns 18.
