A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for the manslaughter of a father from County Down. Marc Doak, 27, from the Shore Road in Belfast will spend half the time in prison and half on licence for the unlawful killing of Ryan McNab. Mr McNab, 31, from Bangor, died after an assault in Rathcoole, County Antrim in October 2022. Doak had been due to stand trial for his murder, but earlier this year he entered a guilty plea to a manslaughter charge. The court heard Mr McNab died after a fight between the two men at Doak's former home in Barna Square. The court was told that both men were heavily intoxicated when the fight broke out. They did not know each other and had never met before that day. Doak claimed that he had acted in self defence, putting Mr McNab in a chokehold after he attacked him with a glass bottle. The post mortem report showed the cause of death had features consistent with neck compression. In her victim impact statement, Mr McNab's mother described each day since her son's death as a "terrible nightmare". "No one in this world is perfect but my son did not deserve to die in the way he did," she said. In her statement, Mr McNab's young daughter revealed her father had been killed on her eighth birthday. "As a direct result, instead of looking forward to my birthday, I have to remember: this is the day my daddy was killed." She said she was robbed of many things that would have made her father proud, including her last day of primary school, her first day of high school and her school formal. "People at school and after school clubs pick on me and make fun of me because I don't have a daddy anymore," she said. "I miss my daddy every day." The judge said Doak had been assessed as not presenting a significant risk of posing serious harm to the public. He said this was "an act of self defence" which strayed into unlawful killing but only by a narrow margin. In recognition of Doak's guilty plea, the sentence was reduced from four to three years. Due to time already served, Doak will be released from prison in roughly 12 months' time. If he breaches his licence, he will be returned to prison.
Man jailed for manslaughter of father-of-one Ryan McNab
TruthLens AI Suggested Headline:
"Belfast Man Sentenced to Three Years for Manslaughter of Ryan McNab"
Bbc News
7.9
TruthLens AI Summary
Marc Doak, a 27-year-old man from Shore Road in Belfast, has been sentenced to three years in prison for the manslaughter of 31-year-old Ryan McNab from Bangor. The incident occurred in October 2022 during a fight in Rathcoole, County Antrim, where both men were reportedly heavily intoxicated and did not know each other prior to the altercation. Doak initially faced a murder trial but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The court heard that during the fight, Doak put McNab in a chokehold after McNab allegedly attacked him with a glass bottle. A post mortem revealed that McNab's death was due to neck compression, which contributed to the court's determination of the incident as an unlawful killing. In light of Doak's guilty plea, his sentence was reduced from four years to three years, with half of the time to be served in prison and the other half on license. He is expected to be released in approximately 12 months due to time already served.
The impact of McNab's death has been profound, particularly for his family. In a victim impact statement, McNab's mother expressed the ongoing pain of losing her son, describing each day since his death as a struggle filled with heartache and longing for the moments they can never share again.
TruthLens AI Analysis
You need to be a member to generate the AI analysis for this article.
Log In to Generate AnalysisNot a member yet? Register for free.