Dublin man jailed for road rage killing of Durham man
A Dublin man has been jailed for 12 years for killing an English motorist in a road rage incident.
In February, Karl Donohoe, 30, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of construction worker Raymond Bates in September 2010.
Father-of-three Mr Bates, 49, from Peterlee, County Durham, died in hospital four days after being hit on the head with a hurling stick.
The attack happened at the junction of Sandymount Road and Tritonville Road.
Both Mr Bates and Donohoe drove away from the scene before a witness reported the assault to Irish police (Gardai).
The victim went to St Vincent's Hospital the following day after becoming unwell, and was transferred to Beaumont Hospital where he fell into a coma and died on 30 September.
Donohoe, a crane worker from Tyrellstown, west Dublin, was arrested and initially charged with assault causing serious harm.
The Director of Public Prosecutions later ordered that he should be charged with murder and the lesser charge was struck out.
However, his guilty plea to manslaughter was accepted in February.
The final two years of his sentence will be suspended.
On Monday, a judge at the Central Criminal Court said Donohoe had appointed himself "sheriff and enforcer".
Mr Bates had drunk up to 10 pints of Guinness in a pub before driving his car and tailgating and flashing Donohoe, who was travelling with his 18-month-old daughter.
The judge said it was the second road rage homicide to have appeared before him in a short space of time.