Two men sentenced over murder of Josip Strok in Dublin
Eoin Reynolds
Two men have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the "brutal" murder of a "good friend, amazing brother and super son," who was taking his last step towards fulfilling his life when he was beaten to death on a Dublin street.
Passing sentence on Monday, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring said that one of the defendants, Mark Lee (44), murdered Josip Strok (31) while acting on weak hearsay evidence from two youths that the deceased and his friend, David Druzinec (29), had assaulted a child.
The judge noted that Lee, a then-unemployed man in his 40s, had earlier on the same day posted on social media saying: "I'm not homophobic myself, but I am racist and I'm not afraid to say it. Only towards certain groups in Ireland. The Government made me like that."
She described other online statements Lee made in the months before the assault as "ugly, ill-informed and discriminatory".
As Croatian nationals, both Mr Strok and Mr Druzinec were entitled to travel to and work in Ireland, she said, in the same way that many Irish people avail of their right to travel.
Unlike the two men who murdered Mr Strok, the deceased and Mr Druzinec were working, Ms Justice Ring said, and therefore offered more to Irish society.
While Lee enjoyed the presumption of innocence during his trial, Ms Justice Ring said the deceased was given no such presumption.
His murderers acted on the "weakest of hearsay on hearsay evidence" and gave their victim no opportunity to defend himself. Lee attacked Mr Strok from behind and took his life without giving him a chance to put a case forward, she said.
Anthony Delappe (19) of Melrose Avenue, Clondalkin, was also convicted of Mr Strok's murder. The court heard that he used a plastic pickaxe handle to strike Mr Strok using full force while the deceased struggled on the ground.
Having sentenced Lee and Delappe to the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder, Ms Justice Ring imposed a six-year sentence on the older man for assault causing harm to Mr Druzinec, while Delappe received three years for his part in the assault. The sentences for assault will run concurrently with the life sentences.
Ms Justice Ring said a distinction between Delappe and Lee is that the younger man's offence is not aggravated by hatred, and he was just one week past his 18th birthday at the time.
He was provoked into action by inaccurate information from Lee that the deceased had beaten up a child, the judge said.
Lee and Delappe had both pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Strok at Grangeview Way in Clondalkin on April 3rd, 2024.
Connor Rafferty (21) of Castlegrange Close, Clondalkin, was charged with Mr Strok's murder, but a jury found him not guilty of that charge last month.
All three men had pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Druzinec, causing him harm, and Ms Justice Ring will sentence Rafferty for that offence next week.
The trial earlier this year heard that David Druzinec became involved in an altercation with a 17-year-old boy at a bus stop in Clondalkin.
CCTV footage
Mr Strok pulled his friend away from the youth after Mr Druzinec had dragged the boy to the ground.
Two youths who heard about the assault told Mark Lee and pointed Mr Druzinec and Mr Strok out to him. Lee went into his home and emerged 58 seconds later, followed by Anthony Delappe (19) holding a hard plastic pickaxe handle.
CCTV footage showed that when Lee and Delappe caught up on their victims, they knocked them to the ground and struck them repeatedly.
Lee kicked Mr Strok in the head, stamped on him and punched him before Delappe joined in, hitting him several times at full force with the pickaxe handle.
After Mr Strok stopped moving, Rafferty struck him three blows with a half-crutch he had brought from Mark Lee's. Rafferty would later tell gardai that he had only inflicted two or three "light smacks" on Mr Strok's back and had not intended to cause him harm.
Mr Druzinec suffered fractures, bruises and swelling to his face and head. Mr Strok suffered a catastrophic brain injury and never regained consciousness.
Prior to sentencing, Mr Strok's mother, Julia Strok, said no parent should find themselves in the Central Criminal Court, speaking about their child in such circumstances. "His life ended before he had the chance to live his own life, and in such terrible pain."
She described her son as immature, funny, warm, loving, loyal and kind. "A big child with a big brave heart." The eldest sibling, he adored his brother Ivan and sisters Anja and Nika.
Ms Strok said her son was taken from her as a child "by force" and became an alcoholic by the age of 14. She said she "turned the world upside down" to get back to him, and when he turned 18, he came back to his family.
They built his confidence "bit by bit" and before he died, he was due to begin university, having qualified to study architecture.
"By now, he would be very close to graduating, the last big step to making a happy, full life," she said. She remembers her son as "always warm, smiling, solution-minded, a good friend, amazing brother, super son, amazingly intelligent, overemotional and deeply loving."
He wanted to get married and dreamed of being a good father, she said. He was "so close" to starting a new life, but now, she said: "There is only silence and longing that will stay with us until our own deaths."
