Hanley killer gets 16 years

The man convicted of killing Kilbeggan horse dealer Christy Hanley was last week jailed for 16 years. Noel Cawley (48) of no fixed abode but with a previous address in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday last for the manslaughter of 83 year old Christy Hanley at Mr Hanley"s home on Bridge Street, Kilbeggan, on May 21 last year. Cawley also received a 12 year concurrent sentence for stealing approximately €10,000 in cash from Mr Hanley"s home on the same date. Cawley had been found guilty of manslaughter and robbery by a jury at the Central Criminal Court after a nine-day trial. The original charge of murder had been reduced to manslaughter by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy as he took the view that there was a reasonable possibility that Cawley did not intend to cause serious harm. The court heard that Cawley had tied up Mr Hanley, beat him around the head and body and then put a coat over his head before he left the house. Mr Hanley had choked to death on his own blood. Passing sentence last week Mr Justice McCarthy said the violence was very significant. He said the fact that a coat had been thrown over Mr Hanley"s head gave the impression that he was dead when the accused left. The judge said it was of significance that Mr Hanley had received the large amount of money in the days before the killing as Cawley was seen with an estimated €10,000 in cash hours after the killing while only one €5 note was found in the victim"s house. The judge said the fact that Cawley had phoned gardai at about 9am the following day to tell them Mr Hanley was tied up in his house showed some degree of humanity and said it was one modest mitigating factor. However, he said Cawley had not co-operated with gardai. Mr Justice McCarthy said Cawley was an appalling criminal and had convictions dating back to when he was 17 years old. He said Cawley had extremely violent crimes in his record, including theft, burglary, larceny, malicious damage and attempted rape. He sentenced him to 16 years in prison and backdated the sentence to June 24, 2008, the date Cawley was taken into custody.