A man has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for the manslaughter of a woman he was having an affair with.

Colm Deely of School Road in Ballyvaughan Co Clare was convicted for the killing of 43 year old Deirdre McCarthy in 2011.

Ms McCarthy met Colm Deely in a local pub in Ballyvaughan on the evening of March 27th 2011.

The court heard they had arranged to meet later at the B&B in which Ms McCarthy was living and working.

She allegedly threatened to reveal the affair they were having to Mr Deely's wife and kids.

The jury at his trial in 2013 heard she was blackmailing him and threatening to tell his wife and children.

He told Gardaí they were in bed together and he put his hands around her neck because she was laughing at him.

Her body washed up on Fanore beach four days later. A post mortem established she’d been strangled to death.

Mr Deely was convicted of murder in his trial in 2013, but this was overturned on appeal because of an issue with the former state pathologist.

In court today the judge said that was one of the reasons for the verdict of manslaughter, as no medical evidence could be supplied to prove murder.

He said the fact that Mr Deely had pleaded guilty to manslaughter since the start of proceedings was a mitigating factor in the 8 year sentence handed down.