A 24-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to life in prison at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of his friend in a row in Co Wicklow last year.
Thomas O’Connor, of Burnaby Court, Greystones, who hit John O’Brien (22) several times on the head with a rock, had pleaded not guilty to his murder at Farrankelly Road, Delgany, on June 4th, 2010.
On November 25th a jury of six men and six women returned a unanimous verdict of guilty after nearly four hours of deliberation.
Mr Justice Barry White told O’Connor he had no discretion and handed down a life sentence backdating it to the day of his arrest on June 5th, 2010.
Det Sgt Eamon O’Neill told Paul Murray, prosecuting, the pair were friends and had been drinking that day. He said the rock used weighed 1.6kg and inflicted catastrophic head injuries.
Det Sgt O’Neill said O’Connor left the scene, disposed of the rock and burned and threw out items of his own clothing.
O’Connor later told gardaí Mr O’Brien started a row with him and he grabbed a rock and hit him two or three times over the head with it. He told gardaí twice: “I didn’t mean to kill him”. The defence of provocation was used during the trial.
The judge asked Sgt O’Neill if O’Connor had taken drugs on the day, to which he replied: “It was not something we could firm up on.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court on behalf of the family, John O’Brien’s mother Bridget said she thought for a while she would lose her mind and it was sometimes hard to breathe.
She said listening to the court case was one of the hardest things she ever had to do. “I thank God the right decision has been made,” she added.
A victim impact statement from Mr O’Brien’s fiancee, Alice O’Brien, was also read to the court stating she and Mr O’Brien were due to be married in September of 2010. Ms O’Brien said she had started planning the wedding day and had bought her wedding dress. She said the most heartbreaking thing was going to the florists to tell them to turn the wedding bouquets into wreaths.
“At first I thought it was a dream. It was totally unbelievable,” said Ms O’Brien.
The court also heard that Thomas O’Connor has 13 previous convictions for offences including criminal damage, failure to appear, theft and no insurance.
Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, said his client would like to apologise and could not forgive himself. He said not a day went by that he did not regret it, and if he could switch places with Mr O’Brien, he would.