A 22-year-old who killed a vulnerable Co Down man with an "unprovoked and unexpected blow" following a drink and drug binge has been handed a six-year sentence.
Telling Donach Rice that he displayed "a shocking indifference" to the plight of Padraig Fox in the aftermath of the killing, Mr Justice Colton noted that after administering the fatal blow, Rice created a "false self-defence scenario" then cashed in a betting slip for £7.60 which belonged to the deceased.
Rice, a father of two from Kilkeel Road in Annalong, will spend three years in prison and three on licence after admitting the manslaughter of Mr Fox.
The 29-year-old victim - who had mental health and addiction issues - was killed in the kitchen of his neighbour's flat in December 2018.
Mr Justice Colton said Mr Fox's death has had "devastating consequences" for his family, and said he was a man who was "clearly loved by his close relatives, particularly because of his vulnerability."
Mr Fox lived alone in a flat at Burrendale Road in Newcastle, and the day before he lost his life, he had been with neighbour Paul Magennis and cousins Donach and Nathan Rice (21).
Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard all four men spend Friday December 7, 2018 drinking and talking drugs, including acid, in Magennis's flat. This went on into the following morning, and some time between 8am and 9am, Mr Fox lost his life.
All three defendants told lies in the aftermath of the killing, and were subsequently charged with perverting the course of justice.
Mr Fox was found hours later lying on his back with a machete underneath his left hand, and his t-shirt pulled over his face with his chest exposed.
A post mortem found he suffered a bleed to the brain and a fractured skull, with the pathologist concluding his ability to breathe whilst on the ground would have been compromised due to a broken nose and consequent bleeding into his airways.
Both Donach and Nathan Rice, from Saul Street in Downpatrick, claimed they saw Magennis throw the fatal punch - a claim the cousins later admitted was lies.
It emerged that Mr Fox was assaulted in the flat, but at 5am he walked to the Slieve Donard with the Rices.
The two cousins broke into the hotel and stole three bottles of alcohol, and the trio returned to Magennis's flat where the drinking continued.
At around 8am, the Rices and Magennis went to Tesco where a bottle of vodka was purchased. When they returned there was an altercation between Donach Rice and Mr Fox, when the deceased was punched once and fell.
Nathan Rice then left the flat, while Donach Rice and Magennis accosted an elderly man at an ATM on the Dundrum Road at 9.25am, while at 9.50am Donach Rice cashed in a betting slip for £7.80 that belonged to the deceased Mr Fox.
Magennis later claimed Donach Rice firstly assaulted Mr Fox causing an eye injury, and that the fatal punch was administered in a second assault by Rice after they got back from Tescos.
He also admitted he and Rice "sliced" themselves with the machete before the weapon was placed under Mr Fox's hand to make it look like self-defence.
Donach Rice admitted breaking into the Slieve Donard with cousin Nathan. Despite initial denials, he admitted punching Mr Fox in the face and subsequently later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other offences.
Magennis - who admitted two counts of perverting the course of justice, and assaulting the pensioner at the cash machine - was handed a two-and-a-half year sentence which will be divided equally between custody and licence.
Nathan Rice was handed a combination order consisting of 40 hours community service and a year's probation, after he admitted breaking into the Slieve Donard, and perverting the course of justice by falsely claiming Magennis dealt the fatal blow.