A man who battered his second cousin to death in a drunken street brawl has a "propensity to aggressive behaviour", a judge has been told.
The submission was made at Down-patrick Crown Court yesterday where John Stanley Foster (31) was due to be sentenced for the manslaughter of former Irish League footballer David mills. mr Justice Burgess adjourned passing final sentence until Tuesday but warned Foster that despite being released on bail, that was to allow him "to put your affairs in order" as he faced an "inevitable" jail sentence.
Foster, from the Corrigs Road in newcastle, went on trial for mr mills' murder last year but the case was halted midway through when he pleaded guilty to his manslaughter on September 30, 2012.
The jury had heard how the victim, a former league championship winner with Portadown, was left with multiple head injuries including fractures to his neck and jaw when the pair came to blows on Ballynahinch main Street in September 2012.
Prosecuting QC Frank O'Donoghue yesterday described the fight as a "combustion of emotion".
He told the court that Foster's guilty plea to the lesser charge was accepted because "there is a reasonable possibility that the fatal blows were administered at a time when the necessary specific intent had not been formed by the defendant".
It was also accepted, said the lawyer, that mr mills - from Dundrum, Co Down - had been the initial aggressor and at least some of the approximately 13 punches struck by Foster had been in self-defence, but he added that many of them were delivered when the victim was not in a position to defend himself. mr O'Donoghue revealed that Foster had a record of violence with convictions for disorderly behaviour and assaults dating back to his teens.
Defence QC James Gallagher said he had always been willing to plead to his relative's manslaughter "if he had had the opportunity to do so", and the fatal attack was not premeditated.
He said there were further mitigating factors in that immediately afterwards, Foster had tended to his stricken victim and has shown "very strong remorse".
The lawyer added that the father-of-four has since "reflected on his life" and stopped drinking to excess.
* VICTIM: Former Irish League footballer David Mills
* 'VIOLENT PAST': John Foster leaves Downpatrick Crown Court yesterday after his sentencing for the manslaughter of David Mills was adjourned until Tuesday PICTURE: Mal McCann