A Mayo man was yesterday jailed for life for the murder of a woman he strangled just after they met at a disco in Ballina in 1997.
In the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, Dean William Richardson (22), of Greenhills Estate, Ballina, Co Mayo, pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Gillian Thornton (20), of Moy Heights, Ballina, at Abbeyhalfquarter on October 17th, 1997.
Ms Thornton worked part-time in the bar her parents owned in Garden Street, Ballina. She was the second-eldest of four children.
She was seen leaving a disco in the town with Richardson on the night of October 17th. She told friends she would catch up with them later, but two days later, her body was found in an overgrown back garden off a laneway fewer than 100 yards from the disco.
At the time, Richardson, who was born in England, was living with his mother, her partner and their two children at Greenhills Estate. He was 21.
Counsel for the State, Mr Kenneth Mills SC, said their meeting at the disco was "purely accidental" and they had never set eyes on each other before that.
They were seen in each other's company near the end of the disco but they did not dance together. In the last 15 minutes, they were seen holding hands and when the disco ended, they left together and walked to a laneway about 40 yards away. It was a narrow overgrown laneway, used by pedestrians and motorcyclists, Mr Mills said.
Two of Ms Thornton's friends saw the pair at the top of the laneway. "They appeared to be kissing and cuddling," one said. The message from Ms Thornton to her friends was that she would see them later "up town".
"But the fact is that Gillian did not turn in at all that night home," counsel said.
One of her friends knew Richardson and he was contacted about her whereabouts the next day. He admitted that they had been together but claimed that after some kissing and cuddling, they had parted.
The following day an investigating garda found the almost naked body of Ms Thornton lying in a garden overgrown with nettles close to the laneway.
It was "quite bizarre" that neither the accused nor the deceased knew each other before that night, Mr Mills said.
When he was arrested by gardai on October 21st, Richardson started crying when questioned about what happened. He told gardai that Ms Thornton had agreed to have sex and they had gone up the laneway and over a wall into a back garden where it happened.
After they had sex, "Gillian said something", he said. "I just lost the head, I went crazy, I didn't mean for it to happen, it was an accident."
Questioned further about this account, he cried and asked for his mother. Gardai told him there was evidence of anal sex, but he denied this.
When his mother was brought to see him, she told him she would stand by him if he told the truth. In a statement he made to gardai subsequently, he confessed to the murder.
He said he had "a good few pints" at two local pubs before the disco, and had six pints at it. He said as he sat with another woman at the disco, Ms Thornton came over and sat down with him. They left together and began "kissing and cuddling". As they walked towards the laneway, they were "messing" and pushing each other, he said.
Over the wall off the laneway, they continued "French kissing" and he then pulled down her trousers and had sex with her, which he said was consensual.
"Then Gillian said something. I went crazy, I lost the head," he said. He could not remember exactly what happened, he continued, but he admitted he had strangled her with his bare hands. He then went home, washed his clothes in the washing machine and fell asleep on the chair.
In custody, he drew a sketch for gardai which clearly indicated the spot where the body was found.
Mr Mills said Richardson also wrote to the dead girl's parents expressing his remorse. A psychiatric assessment found that no case could be made that Richardson suffered from any psychiatric condition.
Mr Peter Charleton SC, defending, said it had been extremely difficult for Richardson's solicitor to receive instructions from him because the accused had been "rendered virtually speechless" by what had happened.
"His regret is so deep that it cannot be expressed," counsel said, but he had asked his lawyers to indicate his "deep regret" to Ms Thornton's family. The murder was typical of cases coming before the courts on a yearly basis, Mr Charleton said, where a combination of youth, excessive consumption of alcohol and physical attraction led to acts of extreme violence.
Richardson was exposed to alcohol abuse and violence through a previous partner of his mother, but he did not wish to say anything that would mitigate his blame.
Mr Justice Carney imposed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment backdated to the date of Richardson's arrest on October 21st, 1997.