A Polish man who killed his friend, whose brain twisted in his skull after he received 27 injuries to his head and neck on St Stephen’s Day three years ago, has been jailed for six years. The Central Criminal Court was previously told at a sentencing hearing for Tomasz Rozpeda that no one knows “exactly what happened” on the night Maciej Nowak (32) was killed and that both men had consumed “substances to excess”.Rozpeda told an emergency operator that his friend had “gone crazy hitting things and hitting himself” but a pathologist later found Nowak had died from blunt force trauma not in keeping with self-inflicted injuries.Sentencing 29-year-old Rozpeda at the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Judge Eileen Creedon said the fact that Nowak’s brain twisted within his skull suggested that his head had been struck multiple times with an object or flat surface. She said a pathologist found that the pattern of injury to the head was consistent with blunt force injuries suggestive of an assault.The court was told during the sentence hearing for Rozpeda last May that there was almost a fatal level of amphetamines in the deceased’s man’s system, but it was ruled out as being the cause of death.Defence barrister, Michael Hourigan, previously submitted what was hoped to have been a normal evening of socialising between two friends had turned into “something very different”.The defence counsel also pointed out that one of the tragedies of the case was that the men were friends who had arranged to spend time together that night. He said Rozpeda and the deceased had consumed “substances to excess” that evening.Rozpeda was originally charged with the murder of Nowak on a date on or about December 26th or 27th, 2023, at Ballycranna, Kilross in Co Tipperary. However, last March, Rozpeda, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to manslaughter when he was arraigned before the Central Criminal Court.Before passing sentence on Monday, the judge noted that Rozpeda had initially sought to distance himself from the event but later contacted Nowak’s fiance to say he had “put” the victim in hospital.The judge said Nowak was due to be married on June 27th, 2024, and that the deceased’s fiance Joanna Biszof had spoken in her victim impact statement about the “deep trauma” suffered by her and her children. “She [Biszof] confirms her life as she knew it has collapsed,” she added.Creedon noted that while the defendant made no admissions in his garda interviews, a plea of guilty to manslaughter was later entered.The judge said that, having considered the level of violence and the injuries sustained, she would set the headline sentence for Rozpeda at nine years.The judge noted that the defendant’s most significant mitigation factor was his early plea of guilty to manslaughter, which she said was of very significant value as several witnesses were outside the jurisdiction.She also noted Rozpeda’s apology. The defendant’s defence counsel previously said he was instructed to apologise for his client’s actions and that Rozpeda accepted responsibility and culpability for what had occurred.The judge said it was also important that the defendant had no relevant previous or subsequent convictions in this jurisdiction.Rozpeda has three previous convictions from Poland, which include driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and drugs as well as possession of narcotic drugs. The judge also took into account that the defendant had suffered a stroke a number of years ago and that he would be serving his prison sentence away from his home and family.She sentenced Rozpeda to six years in prison, backdating the sentence to when he went into custody on December 28th, 2023.