Belfast: Man sent to prison for manslaughter of friend

David Conville died in May 2022 after suffering a traumatic brain injury after being hit.

A Belfast man who killed his friend after punching him in the face during an altercation has been handed a three-and a-half year prison sentence.

David Conville, 34, died in hospital from a traumatic brain injury three days after he was assaulted in his back garden on 27 May, 2022.

Edward Kelly, 31, formerly of Felt Street in Belfast pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of David Conville.

He will spend 21 months in custody and the rest on licence.

Found lying on the ground

Belfast Crown Court was told Mr Conville had been drinking with his girlfriend when Kelly arrived at his house on Abingdon Drive, in south Belfast.

Mr Conville and Kelly had a conversation at the front door and Kelly left but came back half an hour later and both were seen in the back garden.

The victim's father, who was in the house at the time, told police he couldn't hear the conversation but "it didn't appear heated".

The victim's girlfriend said she looked out the kitchen window and saw her boyfriend, Mr Conville, "lying on the ground" at the back gate.

She said she found him unconscious and called on Mr Conville's father and brother to help.

He was taken by emergency services to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where it was established that he had a history of seizures.

Mr Conville was treated from a traumatic brain injury but died three days later on 30 May, 2022.

'Bouncing off a wall'

Kelly was later arrested and told police he believed he had struck Mr Conville three times.

After the assault, Mr McConville fell and hit his head on a firm surface, Kelly described seeing Mr Conville "bouncing off a wall".

Kelly accepted that he assaulted Mr Conville, but claimed he acted in self-defence after an argument arose between the pair.

Kelly said the victim's girlfriend "was jokingly teasing him by taking a cigarette from his hand and putting her hand on his wallet''.

He then called her "a muppet" which sparked the argument in the back garden, the court heard.

Kelly said Mr Conville had "swung a big dig" at him, but replied "no comment" when asked if Mr Conville had started the fight.

A witness told police that Kelly was walking away from the scene and shouted: "You deserved that. You asked me to knock you out."

'Mild to moderate force'

A post-mortem examination concluded that Mr Conville had died from a "severe head injury...entirely consistent with the deceased's head striking a hard surface such as a wall or the ground''.

Mr Conville had sustained blunt injuries to his face, bruising to the chin and scalp along with lacerations but no fractures to his body.

The pathologist said, in his view, the injuries sustained were caused by "no more than mild to moderate force''.

Kelly's criminal record includes two entries for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, threats to kill, hijacking, aggravated vehicle taking while under the influence of alcohol and possessing an offensive weapon.

The judge imposed a 42-month sentence and told the court that while the Probation Service had assessed Kelly as a danger to the public, she had determined that he didn't "pose a significant risk of serious harm'' in the future.

The court heard about the impact Mr Conville's death has had on his family.

In a victim impact statement his sister Lee-Anne Ferguson said: "We had a few very long days in the intensive care unit with no option but to watch as David's condition deteriorated until he eventually passed away.

"The grief we have all felt is immeasurable. This pain was a whole new level of grief and upset."

She said his death had affected the entire family circle.