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A file image of the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin. Pic: Collins Courts<\/p>\nA young man who killed a pensioner with an MMA-style \u2018backspin\u2019 kick, causing him to fall and suffer a fatal head injury, has been jailed for five years. <\/p>\n
Joshua Rush, 26, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Charles McCaughley, 69, at Fairview Strand, Dublin 3, on June 7, 2021. <\/p>\n
The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment. Shortly before the incident, Mr McCaughley ordered fish and chips from a takeaway where staff said he was \u2018in good form\u2019, Detective Sergeant David Ennis told Diana Stuart SC, prosecuting, during an earlier sentence hearing. <\/p>\n
Another witness waiting for a bus told garda\u00ed he saw three youths passing an older man as he walked along Fairview Strand. He saw one of the young men \u2013 Rush \u2013 employ a \u2018backspin kick, like MMA\u2019 on the older man, causing him to fall on his back. <\/p>\n
A file image of the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin. Pic: Collins Courts<\/p>\n
The trio left the scene and were seen entering accommodation nearby. When the witness ran to his assistance, Mr McCaughley was unconscious and there was blood coming from his mouth. <\/p>\n
He was taken to hospital by ambulance but his health deteriorated and he died on June 26, 2021. A post-mortem found the cause of death was traumatic brain injury due to a significant fall to the back of the head. <\/p>\n
Rush, of Fairview Strand, Fairview, Dublin 3, has no previous convictions, the court heard. Sentencing him yesterday, Judge Martina Baxter said this was an \u2018unprovoked confrontation\u2019 involving a \u2018kick that was deliberately aimed at a defenceless person\u2019. <\/p>\n
She said she would not consider it as analogous with a single-punch attack, as had been submitted, but was \u2018more serious\u2019. She said the \u2018callousness\u2019 of Rush leaving Mr McCaughley lying on the path was a \u2018highly aggravating factor\u2019. <\/p>\n
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A file image of Joshua Rush. Pic: Collins Courts<\/p>\n
The judge said Rush had given a \u2018self-serving\u2019 account of what occurred, including that the victim spat at him, but noted he and the two other men crossed the road to where Mr McCaughley was walking.<\/p>\n
She referenced a witness account that the victim was wearing a face mask at the time. She said the court \u2018didn\u2019t take kindly\u2019 to the defence assertion that the victim may have had drink taken. <\/p>\n
\u2018Whether he had or hadn\u2019t, he was going home with a bag of chips,\u2019 the judge said. She took into account a number of mitigating factors, including that Rush has no previous convictions, has not come to Garda attention since, was 21 at the time and expressed genuine remorse. <\/p>\n
She noted the \u2018compassionate\u2019 view of Mr McCaughley\u2019s closest relative, his sister \u2013 who said she didn\u2019t want to see anyone jailed for his death \u2013 but added that this was a serious offence. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/The-Criminal-Courts-of-Justice-1.jpg\")
A file image of the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin. Pic: Collins Courts<\/p>\n
Judge Baxter sentenced Rush to six-and-a-half years\u2019 imprisonment, but suspended the final 18 months on a number of conditions, including that he remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months upon his release. <\/p>\n