Courts / Offaly / Report

Lookout jailed for role in father-of-eight's killing

Date
2016-07-27

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Clara

County
Offaly

Summary

Ross Allen, 26, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for manslaughter after he acted as a lookout during the killing of Christy Daly, 47, on 29 December 2013. The Central Criminal Court found Allen not guilty of murder but guilty of assault‑manslaughter. The jury was not convinced that he was part of a common purpose to kill. Allen had previously hidden €30,000 worth of cannabis near Daly's caravan on Bog Lane, and when the stash disappeared he feared the drug dealer might blame Daly. He was told to drive a Volvo to a location outside Clara, where two Dublin gang members and a driver planned the attack. Allen collected a sawn‑off shotgun and a semi‑automatic pistol, stood at the gate as a lookout, and the men shot Daly eight times.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Lookout jailed for role in father-of-eight's killing. Charges or matters: manslaughter. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

December 29, 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
February 2014 Hearing Or Sentence
2016-07-27 Publication

Why: The judge described his offence as very grave because of the use of firearms, and that violence was to be inflicted by people engaged in serious criminal activity. CNI source report

Case subjects

Ross Allen

Convicted Person

Charges: manslaughter (Alleged Or Contested)

Outcome: A 26-year-old man has been jailed for eight years for the manslaughter of a father of eight by keeping lookout while he was beaten and shot to death