The mother of a man killed by a friend, who claimed he had been antagonised into punching him, died months later from a broken heart, her family said.
Edward Kelly (31), formerly of Felt Street in Belfast, will spend 21 months in custody followed by a similar period on licence after he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of David Conville.
Mr Conville (34) died in the Royal Victoria Hospital three days after he was assaulted in the back garden of his south Belfast home almost two years ago.
Speaking after sentencing on Wednesday, Mr Conville’s sister Lee-Anne Ferguson said David was “taken from us in the most cruel way”.
“There are no words that describe the loss we as a family have suffered and continue to suffer,” she said.
“Not only have we lost David, but just eight months after he was killed, our mum died of a broken heart. The loss of her son was just too much to bear.
“We, David’s family, have been robbed of our future with him, and David has been robbed of his future with his children. No sentence will ever be justice for the loss we have suffered and continue to suffer.”
Earlier, Belfast Crown Court heard that Mr Conville was drinking with his girlfriend when Kelly called at his Abingdon Drive home on May 27 2022.
After a conversation at the front door, Kelly left but later returned half an hour later and the two men were seen in the back garden.
The victim’s girlfriend said she looked out the kitchen window and saw him “lying on the ground’'. She found him unconscious and called for assistance.
Police and an ambulance were called and Mr Conville was conveyed to the RHV where it was established that he had a history of seizures.
He was treated for a traumatic brain injury but died three days later.
A post mortem examination concluded that Mr Conville died from a “severe head injury...entirely consistent with the deceased’s head striking a hard surface such as a wall or the ground’'.
Kelly was arrested and during police interviews said he believed he struck his friend with three blows. After the assault, Mr Conville fell and hit his head on a firm surface and Kelly described seeing him “bouncing off a wall”.
He accepted that he assaulted Mr Conville but claimed he acted in self defence.