An amateur kickboxer who admitted killing but denied murdering his mother has told a jury he was “groomed” into a life of drugs and violence by his abusive mother.
“In my whole life of being attacked and abused I had never defended myself, just waited for it to be over,” Luke Donnelly told the Central Criminal Court on Thursday evening.
The accused told his trial he was in fear for his life and “lost all control” when he “stomped” on his 62-year-old mother’s head after she hit and threatened to kill him.
The accused agreed with prosecution counsel that he had used “deplorable violence” to end his mother’s life and had “loaded up” on a cocktail of drugs in the hours before her killing.
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Mr Donnelly (29), of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of his mother Catherine Henry (62) at her apartment on Bridge Street in Dundalk, Co Louth, between May 23rd and 24th, 2023.
Taking the stand on Thursday, Mr Donnelly told his senior defence counsel, Conall MacCarthy, that he was three years old when his father left and life “took a turn”, with a lot of violence and drugs in the home.
The accused alleged his mother hit his older siblings.
Mr Donnelly said the violence from his mother was directed towards him and his younger sister when they moved to Delvin in Co Westmeath with Ms Henry and her new husband. He said Ms Henry’s mental health deteriorated after her new husband died by suicide and she became very angry, violent and depressed. He said Ms Henry would smash things, drink and take prescription tablets.
He said his mother began a relationship with a drug dealer and he was put “out on the street” at 14 years old as he would not move to Portugal with “a drug trafficker”.
The accused said he moved to Liverpool with his mother and her partner when he was 16 years old. It was at this point, he said, he was “groomed” into a lifestyle he did not want, including having to sell drugs, extort money from people and be violent.
Asked by Mr MacCarthy about “representing” himself as “Jesus Christ”, the accused said voices told him he was God and that God had chosen him from the beginning of time.
The accused said that when his mother drank heavily, she would spend time abusing his siblings and calling them “scum”.
He said his mother ran at him with a “massive butcher’s knife” in 2020 and tried to stab him.
The accused said he never held any anger or animosity towards his mother, no matter how many times she tried to kill him, spit on him or knock him unconscious.
Mr Donnelly said he went back to his mother’s apartment on May 23rd and went to bed.
Mr Donnelly said he later heard a lot of banging coming from the kitchen. He said a panic came over him and he knew it was time to go.
When Ms Henry came into the bedroom asking for his key, the accused told her he was the son of God and could not take the controlling abuse any more.
He said his mother screamed in his face that she would kill him if he left. “I said I’m the son of God, you can’t kill me,” he said.
The accused said he closed his eyes and “waited for it to be over” as she lunged at him. “I didn’t know whether it was punches or a weapon but I could feel my head and arms being hit”.
At that moment, Mr Donnelly said, he was in fear for his life, snapped and threw a left punch that connected with Ms Henry and spun her around. “I lost all control and proceeded to stomp; it all happened in a moment,” said the accused, adding that he believed she was going to kill him.
In cross-examination Garret Baker SC, prosecuting, asked Mr Donnelly: “Can we agree you ended your mother’s life by using deplorable violence against her?”
The accused agreed but said he was defending himself as he was in fear for his life.
Mr Donnelly agreed his mother was unarmed but said he had not known this at the time and she “usually” had a knife.
The accused said he had taken ketamine, cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy and a bottle of nitrous oxide on the night of May 22nd and the morning of May 23rd.
Told by counsel that his mother had got a safety order against him in 2020, the accused said he had not got a chance to defend himself in court.
“A 62-year-old unarmed grandmother threatens you and you are in fear of your life?” asked counsel.
“You have to understand it was the person who abused me mentally and physically since I was a child,” Mr Donnelly replied.
The barrister asked whether Ms Henry was “some kind of lethal killing machine”. Mr Donnelly said she was very good and capable of doing unimaginable things.
Asked whether he wanted to exercise revenge, the accused said he did not and never held any anger towards his mother. Mr Donnelly said he loved his mother unconditionally, no matter what she did to him.
“Unconditional love in the air as you fractured her skull?” pressed counsel. The accused said he had become very angry at that moment and believed he was going to be killed.
The trial continues on Tuesday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of seven men and five women.
