{"id":164327,"date":"2025-11-28T14:04:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T14:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/164327\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T14:04:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T14:04:06","slug":"man-jailed-for-life-for-murder-of-irish-pensioner-in-london-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/164327\/","title":{"rendered":"Man jailed for life for murder of Irish pensioner in London \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man who murdered Kilkenny-born John Mackey<\/a> (87) in London this summer has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the \u201cvoracious attack on a frail man\u201d. <\/p>\n

Peter Augustine (59) will serve 23 years in prison before he is eligible for parole. Judge Sarah Whitehouse said today in the Old Bailey<\/a> that he may be released \u201cwhen he is deemed to no longer pose a risk of causing harm to others\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat day may never come,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the sentencing this morning, Mr Mackey\u2019s eldest niece, Patricia Schan, said he was \u201cthe perfect uncle\u201d who always had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.<\/p>\n

A \u201cfunny, charming and mysterious\u201d man, he never married and had no children. Ms Schan said her uncle was \u201cvery interested in the lives\u201d of his 22 nieces and nephews and \u201cwas never happier than when he was with his brothers and sisters\u201d.<\/p>\n

One of 11 siblings, he is now survived by four. Originally from Callan, Co Kilkenny, Mr Mackey served as a postman for a period in his hometown before moving to London in the mid-1950s to work. <\/p>\n

His eldest niece described him as \u201ca proud Irishman who, like many of his generation, came to London\u201d. He lived in Manor House, near Finsbury Park in north London, \u201cfor 70 years without incident\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Mackey, from Callan, Co Kilkenny, was killed in Manor House, London <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a well-known and popular member of his community, and was fondly remembered back home,\u201d Ms Schan said, referring to the large turnout at his funeral in late June.<\/p>\n

Augustine attacked Mr Mackey in a secluded alleyway while the Irishman was walking home from buying groceries and a takeaway dinner of sausage and chips. When he couldn\u2019t easily steal the bag of food, Augustine proceeded to beat, punch and stomp on Mr Mackey.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0An Irishman murdered in London: \u2018What really got to me was what his killer stole, the cottage pie\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Augustine, a London native, has previous violent convictions and was homeless at the time of the attack. He told the jury that he was so hungry that he targeted Mr Mackey to steal his food. He admitted to being guilty of the robbery but not the attack and eventual death of Mr Mackey.<\/p>\n

The attack left Mr Mackey with injuries likened to a \u201cserious road traffic accident\u201d or \u201cfalling from a height of over one storey\u201d, the prosecuting barrister, Jane Bickerstaff, told the jury two weeks ago. Mr Mackey died from his injuries in hospital two days later. <\/p>\n

In her sentencing today, judge Whitehouse said \u201cI have no doubt that if the defendant was genuinely starving, this kind gentleman would have shared his food with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Augustine was not present in court this morning, and was often \u201cinsulting, aggressive and abusive\u201d to people in court, particularly Ms Bickerstaff, throughout the trial, the judge said.<\/p>\n

His behaviour throughout the trial showed he was \u201ca man incapable of controlling his anger,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ms Schan, in her victim-impact statement, said Augustine showed \u201ccomplete disdain, disrespect and disregard\u201d for the wider Mackey family.<\/p>\n

His \u201cerratic and intimidating behaviour\u201d caused \u201chuge distress\u201d for the many members of Mr Mackey\u2019s family who attended the trial, because they \u201cdidn\u2019t know what we would face on a daily basis\u201d, Ms Schan said.<\/p>\n

Concluding her sentencing, judge Whitehouse said she \u201cwould like to pay tribute and thank the family\u201d for their \u201cquiet dignity throughout this ordeal\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The man who murdered Kilkenny-born John Mackey (87) in London this summer has been sentenced to life imprisonment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,91392,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-164327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-old-bailey","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}