A MAN WHO has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the partner of his mother fled Ireland by ferry in the days following the violent death having told friends that the world was a better place without the victim in it, a court has heard.

Andrew Nash, of Parnell Street in Thurles, Co Tipperary went on trial in Cork on Monday charged with the murder of British national, Jonathan (John) Ustic, on a date unknown between 24 and 25 September 2017 at High Street in Skibbereen, Co Cork.

The Central Criminal Court sitting had heard that Nash (43) allegedly attacked Ustic, raining blows down on him, slicing him in the ear with a broken bottle, and then bringing a sofa repeatedly down on top of him as he lay defenceless on the floor.

The jury of seven men and five women heard two days of evidence in the case. When the case resumed yesterday, Nash was re arraigned in the presence of the jury.

He denied murdering Ustic. However, he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ustic (51) who had been in a relationship with his mother Suzanne Fenton. Fenton passed away last year.

Today, a sentencing hearing in the Central Criminal Court in Cork heard that Nash fled the jurisdiction following the death of Ustic. He travelled to the UK.

Dt Sgt Kevin Long gave an outline of the case today at the hearing. He said that Nash was with friends in Cork city on 24 September 2017 when he received a call from his mother, Suzanne Fenton, in which she allegedly stated that Ustic, her partner of eight years, “was at her.”

Long said that Fenton had repeatedly told gardaí that her partner had never been violent towards her. However, they did speak to witnesses who reported that they heard Fenton inform her son that Ustic had assaulted her on occasion.

He told Mr Justice Michael McGrath that on 24 September 2017, Nash went to the home his mother shared with her partner in Skibbereen and confronted Ustic
hitting him twice in the head and causing a gash below his left eye.

However, relations improved and that evening, Nash, Ustic and another couple went out in a car. They bought alcohol in a local shop and went to the side of a lake in Baltimore where they drank returning to the house in Skibbereen shortly before 8pm.

Long said that Ustic was “highly intoxicated” at this point and was unable to get out of the car. He said that Nash “aggressively pulled him from the car.” Ustic hit his head off the ground and ended up bleeding from the head. Nash and his friends left him lying on the ground in the car park by the house.

Members of the public became concerned about the welfare of Ustic and called to the local garda station only to find it closed. The court heard that Nash and his friend returned to the car park and picked Ustic up under the arms. They “dragged” him back to the house in High Street.

Long said that Nash subsequently assaulted Ustic as he lay unconscious on the floor. He picked up a sofa and repeatedly smashed it down on his head and chest. He also punched and stamped on him and sliced an ear of the victim with a broken bottle.

Fenton raised the alarm when she came down the next morning and was unable to rouse her partner. Gardaí were called and Ustic was found lying in a pool of blood with a sofa resting on his chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A postmortem indicated that Ustic had died from blunt force trauma to the face, neck and chest with acute alcohol intoxication being a contributory factor in his death.

Long said when newspapers and radio stations began to report on the death, Nash said to friends that “the world won’t miss him (Ustic)” or “the world is better off without him.”

Nash was charged in April of last year with the murder of Ustic. The Yorkshire native, who moved to Ireland as a child, had 42 previous convictions mainly for road traffic offences. He also has assault convictions.

Prosecution barrister Sean Gillane SC read out the victim impact statement of Paige Edens, the daughter of the deceased.

Edens said that Ustic understood her and had insight into what it was like to “be an outsider in this world.”

“He loved me not matter what and made a point of telling me all the time – I was his biggest achievement in life and all he wanted was for me to flourish and become this amazing person who lived life to the fullest.

“But I will never be able to do that because he will not be there to watch me – he never got to see me graduate university, he will have the chance to walk me down the aisle, never see what my life becomes and how much he has inspired everything I do, because he is just gone.

“I have so much anger towards you (Nash) that you have caused me so much pain in my life at a young age – you may have pleaded guilty, and you will serve your time but always carry with you, that this will never be forgotten and you will never be forgiven for the pain you have caused me.”

Defence counsel Ray Boland SC said that his client was deeply remorseful for what had occurred.

Mr Justice McGrath told counsel that he needed time to consider the appropriate sentence in the case.

He remanded Nash in custody for sentencing in Cork on 21 July next.