Overview
- Judge Martin Nolan set a headline term of eight and a half years before reducing it to six after accepting mitigation including remorse, a guilty plea and positive conduct in custody.
- Christopher O’Neill, 31, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for punching Martin Lynn outside his Whitehall home on July 30, 2023; Lynn died in hospital two days later.
- Court evidence described an unprovoked assault captured on CCTV, with Lynn’s hands in his pockets when he was struck.
- Gardaí linked O’Neill to the incident through CCTV and phone records, arrested him in December 2023, and noted he has 24 prior convictions.
- O’Neill smiled and winked after the sentence was delivered, while Lynn’s family condemned the term as too lenient and called for mandatory minimums for one-punch attacks.