30 year old David Sweeney of no fixed abode apologised to Mark Foley's family for causing his death following an argument over a cigarette in the city on the 4th of November 2021.
Det Garda Malcolm Walsh told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that David Sweeney went to a local shop to charge his phone at 9pm on the night in question when he came across Mark Foley on the Lower Glanmire Road.
The two were not known to each other.
Sweeney asked Mark Foley for a cigarette. Words were exchanged between the pair and the court was told that Mark Foley fell on the footpath after he was punched by Sweeney.
Det Walsh said Sweeney came up behind Foley and punched him several times and kicked him before he had a chance to get up from the ground.
When he did manage to stand up disorientated, Sweeney punched him in the face, causing Foley to hit the footpath at full force.
Sweeney was interviewed the day after the assault and made full admissions to Gardaí.
Mark Foley had four children, lived in Cork and London and died at CUH on the 5th of December 2021.
David Sweeney's defence barrister Tom Creed sc read out a letter from the accused that said he should have reacted differently and that he had destroyed an innocent family over a stupid argument.
Judge Catherine Staines said she accepted that the victim had produced a knife in the course of the incident.
Sweeney was originally charged with assault causing harm before being charged with the unlawful killing of Mark Foley.
