A MAN HAS been found guilty of the manslaughter of chef Timmy Hourihane in Cork city.

James Brady, 28, of Shannon Lawn, Mayfield, Cork, was accused of taking part in a sustained assault on Hourihane, which saw the older man kicked “like a football” in the head and the groin, alongside a second man who is to go on trial at a later date.

The 28-year-old had denied the charge of murder pursued by the State.

Hourihane, 53, was seriously injured during the assault and died shortly afterwards in hospital. A post mortem found he suffered a collapsed lung and severe facial and head trauma.

The father of one was from the Sheep’s Head Peninsula in West Cork and had worked for some time with the Hilton Hotel chain in the UK before living homeless in Cork.

The trial, which lasted five weeks, heard of tensions at the so-called tented village where numerous homeless people lived in 2019.

The jury of seven women and five men were provided with conflicting eye witness accounts of what transpired shortly after midnight in a field off Mardyke Walk, Cork city, on 13 October 2019.

Among these was the account of a woman present at the time of the fatal assault, who said the victim didn’t try to defend himself, while the two accused were “egging each other on” as they “stamped” on his head and legs.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had claimed she saw James Brady open Hourihane’s legs and tell the unnamed man to “go on, kick him, he’s only a faggot”.

However, James Brady had insisted in garda interviews that he was a friend to the victim and did not take part in the assault that ended his life.

‘Every other witness saw the fire’

Both men were homeless at the time with drug issues and had been living in the homeless camp at Mardyke Walk in 2019.

Brady said he did not care that Hourihane was gay, and said the older man used to tease Brady and tell him he was good looking, but he described it as a joke between the two of them.

“He understood me. He didn’t judge me,” he told gardaí.

Hourihane had gotten him a job when he was training as a chef around eight years earlier and the two later lived in a squat together.

Brady, who denied being in a sexual relationship with the deceased, told gardaí the unnamed man seemed jealous of their friendship and had previously said he did not “want any gays” in the camp.

Vincent Heneghan, defending, had told the jury that it had been a long, sad and tragic case, and called on them to clinically examine the evidence.

Addressing the evidence of the unnamed woman, Heneghan said the jury needed to ask how reliable her account of events was.

“Of great significance” was that she did not see the fire which engulfed a tent and damaged a tree following the assault.

“Every other witness saw the fire. That is very telling. And it doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

“It seems to be compelling evidence, until you delve into (the unnamed woman) herself. She was drinking all day long.”

He added that it was “quite clear from interviews that my client is not homophobic”.

Brady admitted to gardaí in his final interview that he had spoken to a separate unnamed man described as an authority figure at the camp, who then reprimanded Hourihane for his approaches to the younger man.

State prosecuting barrister Siobhan Lankford told the jury this was one of the “big lies” she alleged were told by the defendant in his interviews with gardaí.

The initial stance was that he had not spoken to this man, who also cannot be named, but Brady changed this in a later interview and said he was afraid it would make him seem culpable.

Another “big lie” was the accused’s “constant refrain that he never touched Hourihane”.

Lankford pointed to three eyewitnesses who told gardaí that they had seen Brady kicking Hourihane. While one of these later withdrew his statement, she said the man had eventually said both men had been kicking the chef as he lay on the ground.

The jury returned with its manslaughter verdict today having begun deliberations on Monday afternoon.

Justice Deirdre Murphy put the case back for sentencing on 28 March.