Patrick Keating receives life sentence for Joe O’Brien’s murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A jury found Patrick Keating guilty of murdering 60-year-old Joe O’Brien after a sustained beating in an apartment in Waterford. The Central Criminal Court imposed the mandatory life sentence on October 18, 2013.

Keating had denied murder and admitted manslaughter, but the prosecution rejected that plea. Johanna Kelly and Michelle Hynes, who were involved in kicking O’Brien during the incident, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were due to be sentenced in December.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.