Man jailed for killing uncle in brutal drunken brawl

Mr Justice Colton told 38-year-old Polish national, Marek Marcin Sinko, that ironically it was he who arranged for his uncle Eugeniusz to move to Northern Ireland.

But it appeared theirs was “a toxic and volatile relationship”, described by the family as “living on the edge that was a big problem for our family”.

The Antrim Crown Court judge added: “This was the context in which the fatal assault took place which has resulted in the untimely, unnecessary and unjustified death of your uncle.”

Mr Justice Colton said he had no doubt the death had a significant impact on a remorseful Sinko. However, his “assault was prolonged” and on “no account could this be seen as a fight between equals ... nor was it a case where death was caused by a single punch.

“He was no physical match for you and you suffered no injuries during this assault other than to your own knuckles. You showed a callous indifference to the fate of your uncle when you left him outside when the assault was over.”

Sinko was previously accused of murdering his 63-year-old uncle on October 22, 2017, at the isolated Co Antrim home they shared at Townhill Road, Rasharkin. The charge was withdrawn when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, by an unlawful act, and not by way of diminished responsibility because of his alcoholism.

Sinko will serve four years in custody, followed by four years on licensed parole.

Last week prosecution QC David McDowell told the Antrim court, sitting in Belfast, that after the fist fight with his uncle, Sinko cleaned up the blood-splattered kitchen before making himself some soup and then going to bed, only to find his uncle dead the following morning.

Having alerted police he then phoned a work-mate, telling him: “I think I’ve killed him.” Police later found Mr Sinko’s partly clothed body lying on a pathway at the rear of their cottage.

The court heard while Mr Sinko died from injuries to his brain, injuries usually associated with a car crash, or fall from a significant height, or assault, he also had five fractured ribs, two fractured vertebrae, and 14 separate groups of bruising and abrasions, while his nephew had injuries only to his knucles.

Mr McDowell said Mr Sinko was subjected to a prolonged and severe assault, and while the injuries to his face were consistent to repeated punching, it could not be proven if they were also caused by kicking, although the rib fractures and bruising to both sides of the chest were consistent with kicking or stamping with a shod foot.

The court also heard that the uncle and nephew had a history of physical violence between them, often occurring after both had been drinking large quantities of alcohol, which often was the case.