Prosecutors were lawfully entitled to withdraw a manslaughter charge against a former GAA star, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Senior judges rejected claims it was irrational to end criminal proceedings against Fergal Doherty over the one-punch strike on pub customer Aaron Law in Portglenone, Co Antrim.
Dismissing a legal challenge by the dead man’s family, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said: “This is a decision which was well reasoned and clearly within a range of reasonable decisions that a prosecutor could reach on the evidence available in this case.”
Mr Law (34) was found unconscious outside a bar on the village’s Main Street in the early hours of October 30, 2022.
The father-of-two suffered a head injury and died later in hospital.
Mr Doherty, a former Derry GAA captain who owned the bar at the time, was initially charged with his manslaughter.
The 43-year-old denied the allegations on the grounds of having acted in self-defence.
Under the law, anyone is entitled to use reasonable force if it is necessary to defend themselves.
Amid evidence from other witnesses that Mr Law had been removed from the bar following a drunken row, Mr Doherty insisted he swung a single punch at him after being struck first outside the premises.
In September 2023, however, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) withdrew the manslaughter charge without prejudice.
A subsequent review also concluded there was no reasonable prospect of securing a conviction against the publican and former sportsman on the available evidence.
An assistant director in the PPS cited difficulties in proving it had not been not necessary for Mr Doherty to use force to defend himself.
She also identified problems in attempting to establish it was excessive to throw a single punch in response to any initial attack on him.
Mr Law’s sister, Danielle Henry, sought a judicial review of the decision not to prosecute.
Her barrister, Frank O’Donoghue KC, argued it was perverse and impermissibly removed from the jury a judgment call on the available evidence.
Claims that Mr Doherty unnecessarily threw his punch in “drunken irritation” should have proceeded to a trial, the court heard.
Further issues were raised about his position of power and responsibility as bar owner and apparent lack of care for the victim following the exchange of blows.
Counsel for the PPS, Philip Henry KC, responded that professional prosecutors had carried out an objective assessment of the evidence.
No new evidence had emerged during a re-evaluation of the prospects of obtaining a successful conviction, Mr Henry highlighted.
Backing those submissions, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan ruled that the PPS was entitled to reach its decision.
“The assistant director decided, reasonably, that it would be very difficult to satisfy a jury to the criminal standard of proof that throwing a single punch in response to a punch having been thrown was excessive force,” she said.
Refusing leave to seek a judicial review, Dame Siobhan held that no arguable case of irrationality had been established.
But she also expressed sympathy for Mr Law’s family and raised concerns about aspects of Mr Doherty’s behaviour.
“He was a publican in charge of these premises who ended up inflicting a blow on a customer whilst under the influence of alcohol,” the Lady Chief Justice pointed out.
“We can well understand how the bereaved family would feel aggrieved by such behaviour.
“His admitted conduct may well be an issue to be considered further in relation to him obtaining or renewing a liquor licence.”