A former HSE addiction counsellor has been jailed for two years for acting as a getaway driver for the “violent and abusive thug” who murdered mother-of-two Lisa Thompson, with a judge noting the defendant “had not fully come to terms” with her role in the crime.
Sentencing judge Mr Justice Patrick McGrath said that this was a “difficult case” and there was no doubt Deirdre Arnold (42) was subjected to appalling domestic abuse and considerable violence at the hands of Brian McHugh during the course of their relationship.
However, the judge found it could not be said that she didn’t have a choice in deciding what she did on the day in question.
Mr Justice McGrath said he had to take into account that Arnold was under McHugh’s “dominion”, was the subject of abuse and was fearful of him.
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The Central Criminal Court heard that Arnold, who in a “terrible twist of fate” became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine after meeting McHugh, had previously made domestic abuse complaints and got an interim barring order against him.
In March this year, Brian McHugh (40), with a former address at Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun in Dublin 11 was jailed for life for murdering 52-year-old Ms Thompson, after a jury found he had inflicted 11 stab wounds to her chest and wrapped a blind cord around her neck.
In a separate trial last April, a jury agreed with the prosecution that Arnold was not an “innocent abroad” and had “decided at every turn” to assist her then-partner McHugh, whom she knew to have murdered mother-of-two Ms Thompson.
The jury unanimously accepted the State’s case that Arnold impeded McHugh’s prosecution by driving him to Ms Thompson’s home at Sandyhill Gardens in Ballymun on May 9th 2022, where she waited outside for “well over an hour” before driving him away from the scene.
Arnold later checked McHugh into the Clayton Hotel near Dublin Airport in an effort to help him evade prosecution. It was also the prosecution’s case that the defendant allowed her silver Hyundai Tucson to be used to dispose of evidence taken from Ms Thompson’s home.
Before delivering the sentence today, Mr Justice McGrath said Arnold was in a very abusive relationship with McHugh and there was no doubt he was particularly aggressive and violent to her on a number of occasions. “To some extent she was under his dominion and became a user of heroin, no doubt due to the appalling abuse he visited on her in the course of their relationship,” he added.
The judge went on to say the court had heard that McHugh had allegedly broken Arnold’s arm by holding it on the bottom of a stairway and stamping on it.
Mr Justice McGrath said McHugh had also made threats against Arnold’s children and behaved in a “monstrous fashion” towards her in their relationship.
Passing sentence on Friday, Mr Justice McGrath said he had been provided with a book of mitigation on behalf of the defendant. Referring to a letter from Arnold, the judge said he accepted it was a genuine expression of remorse on her part, where she said she wished she had acted differently or recognised the warning signs from McHugh.
The judge said Arnold also outlined in her letter that she didn’t expect forgiveness but wanted the Thompson family to know she was truly sorry for their loss and would never forget the consequences of that day.
Mr Justice McGrath pointed out that Arnold’s daughter had also written a letter to the court, where she called the defendant a devoted mother and said she was “the glue that holds the family together”.
A senior investigating officer had told the jury that details of the ligature and strangulation of Ms Thompson had not been released into the public domain in June 2022.
The judge said on Friday that Arnold had not fully come to terms with her role in this matter.
The judge said Arnold had provided “a considerable degree of assistance” by her presence at Sandyhill Gardens, when she was the driver of the getaway car.
The judge said Arnold’s prospects for future employment had been considerably reduced, with no chance of employment in any public sector job.
Arnold’s defence counsel, Mr Patrick Gageby SC, told her sentence hearing last month that his client had since resigned from her State job and is the sole financial support for her three children.
The judge said Arnold has some insight into the matter and he had been told she would not be appealing the verdict.
Referring to the two victim impact statements read to the court by the deceased’s sister Ashley Duckett, Mr Justice McGrath said Ms Duckett had referred to the devastating impact which the loss of Ms Thompson has had on her life and had also noted the absence of any remorse from both defendants “as adding to their pain”.
The judge noted there was “significant mitigation” in the case including that Arnold was a middle-aged woman of good character, an excellent mother who provided fully for her children and was a hard worker.
“Whilst not fully accepting the part she played in the matter she has expressed remorse and I accept that’s genuine,” he added.
Having considered mitigation, the judge reduced the headline sentence of five years to three years. He said a report from a psychologist had recommended Arnold attend therapy to work on several issues and that a period of suspension on certain terms would be of use to her.
