A Central Criminal Court jury has unanimously found a nephew guilty of murdering his 78-year-old uncle by stamping him to death while wearing steel-capped boots.
The jury agreed with the prosecution case that Thomas Lorigan was the man who was caught on CCTV delivering calculated, “well-aimed” kicks as widower John O’Neill lay helplessly on the ground outside his home in Lisdoonvarna in Co Clare.
A garda witness told the jury that the pensioner had been severely beaten to the point where he was “unrecognisable”.
There was no known motive for the murder but State prosecutors submitted the fact that there was no cash robbery and that family photos were found smashed suggested the killing was “something personal”.
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Thomas Lorigan (34), of no fixed abode, had pleaded not guilty to murdering John O’Neill (78) at St Brendan’s Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare on a date unknown between January 6th and 7th, 2022.
The Central Criminal Court trial heard that Lorigan was known by the nickname ‘Mossy’ in the Clare area and was the deceased’s nephew. The jury was told that Mr O’Neill lived alone and previously ran a bed and breakfast at his home along with his wife, who passed away in the summer of 2021.
In her closing speech, Eilis Brennan SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, submitted that there was a “compelling picture of guilt” in the case with all the evidence pointing one way. The barrister described the attack by Lorigan on the pensioner as “something personal” and said there could be no doubt that the defendant’s intention was to kill or cause serious injury to Mr O’Neill.
The trial heard that gardaí recovered a pair of bloodied boots from a house at Gleann Bhreandain in Lisdoonvarna, where Lorigan had stayed the night before the body was found. Witness Walter Burke had testified that Lorigan left his house at one point on the night of January 6th and returned before midnight, telling him that he had a row with his uncle. The witness said the defendant went to bed but during the night mentioned to him that he felt the row “was more serious than he first told me” and that somebody could be hurt.
A forensic scientist gave evidence that a mixed DNA profile was taken from inside the pair of boots recovered from Gleann Bhreandain. Dr Alan McGee said the boots were heavily stained with Mr O’Neill’s blood and that the mixed profile contained Lorigan’s DNA.
The prosecution argued that Lorigan could be seen on CCTV footage of the attack delivering measured kicks to his uncle and stamps to the head and neck.
Following today’s unanimous verdict, Mr Justice Paul McDermott thanked the jury of five men and seven women for the “obvious time and consideration” given to the matter. He said details from cases of this kind are very difficult to listen to, consider and deliberate on. He exempted them from jury service for the next ten years.
The 12 jurors returned their unanimous verdict after six hours and 30 minutes of deliberations over three days.
When the jury left the courtroom, the judge said all he could do was express his condolences to the O’Neill family.
Mr Justice McDermott will hand down the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment to Lorigan on February 19th and remanded the defendant in custody until that date. On that date, the O’Neill family will have an opportunity to make a statement to the court about the impact John’s death has had on their lives.
It was the State’s contention that the defendant had “put himself at the scene” as having a row with his uncle and that this evidence chimed with all the other evidence in the case, with no alternative version of events.
Following the “vicious assault”, Mr O’Neill was left on the road outside his house for 40 seconds before being dragged by Lorigan under the archway and into his kitchen.
Pathologist Margaret Bolster described to the trial how she observed the heavily blood-smeared and “flattened” face of the widower lying on his kitchen floor, injuries which she said were “in keeping with multiple kicks, blows and stamping”.
Mr O’Neill suffered severe blunt force trauma to the face with multiple fractures to the facial bones and a traumatic brain injury.
Michael Bowman SC, defending Lorigan, said in his closing speech that his client’s face was never identifiable on any CCTV footage put before the jury and that the identification in the case was flawed. He said the prosecution had fallen short on a close analysis of the case and asked the jury to return a verdict of not guilty.
Mr Justice McDermott told the jury that they could return one of three verdicts in relation to the murder charge against Lorigan, namely; guilty of murder, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter or not guilty.
The judge said the jurors could return a verdict of guilty of murder if they were satisfied that Lorigan had caused the death of Mr O’Neill and did so with the intention to kill or cause him serious injury.
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