BREAKING: Jury returns verdict in Athlone murder trial

Two men have been found guilty of murdering a 23-year-old by beating him unconscious and leaving him to drown in the River Shannon in Athlone.

Polish-born Patryk Krupa drowned in the Shannon outside Athlone while incapacitated with a head injury from a violent assault on June 20th, 2014.

Leszek Sychulec (34), a Polish cage fighter with an address at Drinan, Ballymahon, Co Longford, and Andrzej Gruchacz (35) with an address in Warsaw, Poland had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Krupa at Bogganfin, Athlone, Co Roscommon.

The four women and eight men deliberated for five hours before reaching unanimous verdicts in the case.

Justice Hunt thanked them for their ‘excellent’ work adjourned sentencing until June 13 when each man will receive the mandatory life sentence for murder.

Mr Krupa’s family embraced each other afterwards. It’s expected that his mother will return to court to give her victim impact statement at the sentence hearing.