Family to appeal 1-punch sentence

Neighbour gets 6 years for unprovoked killing

- BY NIAMH O'DONOGHUE and DECLAN BRENNAN

A MOTORCYCLIST who killed his neighbour by punching him once to the head in an unprovoked assault has been jailed for six years.

Martin Lynn had been out socialising with his partner and friends and had just alighted from a taxi near his home when Christopher O'Neill, 31, a neighbour of the deceased, drove past the taxi.

O'Neill stopped his motorbike, walked back to Mr Lynn and punched him with force to the head. Mr Lynn fell to the ground and was taken to hospital, where he died two days later.

Judge Martin Nolan said that it was very hard to understand why O'Neill, who has 24 previous convictions, walked back to Mr Lynn.

He said there was no provocation, and it was not clear what happened or what caused O'Neill to do what he did.

He said the court could only assume the defendant "felt his path was somewhat blocked by the taxi and the people alighting (and) that infuriated him".