Two men sentenced to life for murder of Josip

Two men were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Croatian man living in Clondalkin last year.

44-year-old Mark Lee, of no fixed abode, and 19-year-old Anthony Delappe, from Melrose Avenue were found guilty of murder of Josip Strok last month.

31-year-old Josip Strok died at Tallaght University Hospital on April 3, 2024, due to injuries sustained in an assault four days prior on March 30, 2024.

21-year-old Conor Rafferty from Castlegrange Close was found not guilty of the charge.

All three had pleaded guilty to assaulting Strok’s friend 29-year-old David Druzinec on the same date at the same location.

Lee was sentenced to six years in prison and Delappe to three-and-a-half years in prison for the attack on Druzinec, with Rafferty due to be sentenced next week.

Victim impact statements were made by four members of Mr Strok’s family, which were read out in person by his mother Julie and younger brother Ivan.

Mrs Strok said: “All my life I fought to keep pain away from them. I hear him in my mind. He promised me nothing would ever happen to him. He felt guilty for things that had nothing to do with him.”

Strok and Druzinec had been drinking all day before an incident that saw Druzinec attack a 17-year-old at a bus stop began the chain of events that led to the attack on the duo, the court was told.

Strok dragged his friend away and the pair returned to the bus stop before boarding their bus to Druzinec’s house.

The 17-year-old confided in three other teens, who rode the same bus as Strok and Druzinec and told Lee after getting off at the same stop as the Croatian pair.

Lee was walking his dogs when was told of the event and followed the pair before dropping his dogs home and continuing his trail.

Delappe was in Lee’s house at the time smoking cannabis and followed him out of the door.

CCTV captured Strok scolding Druzinec in Croatian for his actions before Lee and Delappe caught up to them.

Rafferty was also in the house smoking and soon followed the pair as they caught up to the Croatian duo.

Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, for the prosecution, said in his opening speech when the two defendants were sentenced last month that the accused knew the victims were foreign nationals and that has “relevance in the case”.

The prosecution told the court that Strok was repeatedly kicked in the head, punched, stamped on and beaten by the assailants.

Lee had knocked Strok to the ground and continued to beat him – at one point using one hand to hold him and the other to hit him.

Delappe had struck Druzinec first and then utilised a plastic pickaxe handle as part of the attack on Josip Strok while Rafferty hit Strok with a half-crutch from Lee’s house after the victim had stopped moving.

Druzinec suffered bruising to his face required stitches but made a full recovery while Strok had suffered a skull fracture and catastrophic brain injury as a result of his injuries before succumbing to them.