A KILDARE man has been given a life sentence today after ‘brutally’ beating his best friend to death with a baseball bat. It is understood that the man in question had been motivated by a desire to kill.
Robert Broughan, 30, of Rathangan in Co Kildare, brutally assaulted 34-year-old Roy Hopkins on the Grand Canal on 31st July 2020 after the two men had gone fishing together.
Mr Broughan told An Garda Síochána that there were no ‘cross words between them’, but that he had wanted to make his friend’s ‘head explode’ after becoming overwhelmed with an urge to kill.
It is also understood that Mr Broughan sent a text Mr Hopkins’ phone after he had already killed him, asking the victim ‘How’s the head?’ It is unclear at this point whether Mr Broughan knew Mr Hopkins was still alive, though he told gardaí that he would have gone back to ‘finish him off’ had he received a reply.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that Mr Broughan had shown no sympathy for either Mr Hopkins or his family, and has not expressed any remorse for what he had done. Owing to the severity of the crime and Mr Broughan’s attitude to committing it, Mr Justice Hunt imposed the mandatory term of life in prison.
Mr Hopkins is said to have lived on his own with three dogs. He went fishing with Mr Hopkins on the Grand Canal near his home in Rathangan, on what has been described as a ‘beautiful summer’s evening’ in July 2020.
Broughan brought a baseball bat with him to the meeting and hit Mr Hopkins on the side of the head and forehead, despite earlier mentioning that the victim was his ‘best friend’. Mr Hopkins then fell into some nearby reeds, whereupon Broughan hit him once again on the nose and Adam’s apple; striking him four times in all.
Following the crime, the court heard how Mr Broughan drove away, soaked the offending baseball bat in petrol, then discarded the remainder of the item on top of a shed. After he told his family what he had done, Mr Broughan’s father alerted the gardaí.
Following his arrest, Mr Broughan made full admissions in custody and declined a solicitor. He described his intention to kill another man and said that Mr Hopkins was ‘a gentleman who treated [him] like a son’.
Broughan was 25 years-old when he committed the murder. He has three children and lived with his parents. It is also understood that he was single at the time.
The court heard that Mr Broughan addicted to Solpadeine and how he had been badly burned in a bonfire as a ten-year-old child; an incident which required hospitalisation for a year and extensive skin grafts.
See More: An Garda Síochána, Co. Kildare
