Ryan McNab: Man sentenced to three years for manslaughter

Ryan McNab: Man sentenced to three years for manslaughter

A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for the manslaughter of a father from County Down. Marc Doak, 27, hailing from the Shore Road in Belfast, will spend half the sentence in prison and the other half on licence for the unlawful killing of Ryan McNab. McNab, aged 31 and from Bangor, tragically passed away after an assault in Rathcoole, County Antrim in October 2022. Doak had originally been set to face trial for McNab’s murder, but he opted to plead guilty to a manslaughter charge earlier this year instead.

The court was informed that the fatal altercation between the two men occurred at Doak’s previous residence in Barna Square. Both individuals had been heavily intoxicated at the time of the altercation and were complete strangers to each other prior to that day. Doak asserted that he had acted in self-defence by placing McNab in a chokehold after being attacked with a glass bottle. The post mortem report indicated that the cause of death exhibited characteristics consistent with neck compression.

In her emotional victim impact statement, McNab’s mother articulated that each day following her son’s passing felt like an unbearable nightmare. She expressed, “No one in this world is perfect but my son did not deserve to die in the way he did.” McNab’s young daughter disclosed that her father was taken away from her on her eighth birthday. She lamented that she was deprived of various milestones that would have made her father proud, such as her last day of primary school, first day of high school, and her school formal. She further revealed the bullying she endured at school due to the absence of her father, stating, “People… make fun of me because I don’t have a daddy anymore. I miss my daddy every day.”

The judge emphasized that Doak was evaluated as not posing a major threat of causing serious harm to the public. He characterized the incident as “an act of self-defence” that veered into unlawful killing by a slim margin. Due to Doak’s plea of guilt, the sentence was lessened from four years to three. With credit for time already served, Doak is slated for release from prison in approximately a year. Any violation of his licence conditions would result in his re-incarceration

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