No winners in tragic tale

There really are no winners in the Robert Houlihan, Wayne O'Donoghue tragedy. I feel very sorry for both families because both of their lives have been irreconcilably shattered, of course the O'Donoghue's still having their son and that's the main difference.

As a parent I couldn't even begin to comprehend the loss of either of my children and I agree with the sentiments expressed by many that the Houlihan's have been given a life sentence.

Nothing will bring their beloved boy back and that gnawing loss will be eating away at them for the rest of their lives. The fact that they genuinely believe that justice hasn't been served only compounds their grief and prevents them from trying to move on with their lives.

Wayne O'Donoghue, on the other hand, has now been afforded the opportunity to get on with his life in some shape or form, but the day that he killed Robert Houlihan was the end of his innocence in more ways than one. Wayne O'Donoghue didn't set out to kill Robert Houlihan and when he did kill him he panicked. One of the greatest "what ifs" of this calamity must be what if Wayne had called the emergency services as soon as Robert died?

The sorry saga would have been played out so differently with many of us pitying Wayne for his part in what we would have viewed as horse play gone too far.

Anybody with children, particularly sons, will testify that sometimes they don't see the danger of their own rough-and-tumble or recognise their own strength.

It was the events after the killing that struck horror with the public and while perverting the course of justice by trying to dispose of Robert's body wasn't taken into account in the sentencing of O'Donoghue, this will no doubt play a part in how he is received by the public and that's something that he is going to have to live with.

This case has been one of the most divisive that I have ever encountered and for my own part I can sympathise with all involved. Wayne O' Donoghue is no threat to society, he wasn't much more than a boy himself at the time of Robert's death and while he still has his life, it's not going to be an easy one. Wayne O'Donoghue took the punishment of the courts and now is free to try to rebuild his life and we have to allow him to get on with that.