Monday, March, 9 2026 - A 30-year-old Nigerian-born bouncer has been convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of an Irish man in Boston, United States on St. Patrick Day.
Sanusi Sadiq expressed remorse to the man’s friends and
family as he was sentenced to serve a minimum of three years in prison.
"If I could take it, all that pain and hurt, I wish I
could, I sincerely wish I could,” said Sadiq, of Quincy, Massachusetts, during
a sentencing hearing last Monday.
The defendant told the court he replays his encounter with
Barry Whelan (46), who emigrated to the US from his native Dublin in
2002, constantly in his head.
At a hearing at Boston’s Suffolk Superior Courthouse, Sadiq
pleaded with Judge Mary Ames for leniency, saying the incident “feels like a
nightmare that I can’t recover from."
“I allowed words to lead me to an impulsive moment,” said
Sadiq, adding that he is “embarrassed” and “disgusted” by his actions on the
night.
The judge sentenced Sadiq to no less than three years and no
more than six years in state prison, calling the case “an avoidable tragedy
because Mr Sadiq had every opportunity and obligation to walk away”.
Whelan, who had been living in Woburn, was found seriously
injured on a street in downtown Boston on St Patrick’s Day in 2023.
He was taken to hospital and treated for a skull fracture
and brain haemorrhage, but d!ed three days later.
The court later heard that Sadiq was on his way to work at a
nearby nightclub when he was approached by Whelan, who was intoxicated.
The two men did not know each another and Sadiq insisted
that Whelan used racist slurs towards him.
CCTV footage showed that Whelan approached another Black man
before approaching Sadiq twice.
In the second encounter, Sadiq engaged with Whelan and then
struck him, causing the Irish man to fall back, before walking away.
The video footage did not include audio recordings.
A previous trial resulted in the hung jury.
“I didn’t intend for any of this to happen,” Sadiq said
during a seven-minute address to the court during which his voice frequently
broke.
Sadiq’s attorney Michael Chinman told the court his client
did not have a prior criminal record and that Whelan was the “provocateur of
the offence”.
He asked the judge for a two-year sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Jillian Bannister asked for a
five to seven year sentence, insisting that Sadiq had “continued this
interaction” and in doing so endangered Whelan’s life.
Darren Whelan, the d3ad man’s brother, attended the first
trial in Boston last year, but watched the latest proceedings remotely from
Dublin.
“Barry was a wonderful human being who was loved deeply by
family and friends. We think about him every day,” Darren Whelan said in an
impact statement read in court.
He insisted that the lesson of his brother’s d3ath is to
“just walk away. It’s not worth it. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but
words will never hurt me. It’s time that Mr Sadiq is held accountable for his
actions.”
The hearing was attended by more than a dozen of Barry
Whelan’s friends, including his former employer John Marsoobian, who told the
court the deceased was “a gentle soul”.
He called Sadiq and his attorney “absolute garbage”.
In a statement, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin
Hayden noted that “bad decisions nearly three years ago resulted in one person
losing his life, another person losing his freedom.”
“We far too often see the tragic results when people fail to
make the simple decision to walk away,” he added.
Shortly after the sentencing hearing, Chinman filed a motion
to appeal the verdict and sentence.
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