Life sentence for man, 30, who killed mother of four

A 30-YEAR-OLD Tipperary man has been jailed for life for murdering a mother of four he met in an addiction treatment centre.

Samantha Walsh, 31, had just returned home from an AA meeting when Danny Whelan beat her to death while he was high on drugs.

Whelan, of no fixed abode but originally from Thurles, was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court earlier this week, charged with murdering Ms Walsh in an apartment in Waterford city. However, he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to murdering the 31-year-old on or about April 28, 2017, at an address in Thomas Street.

Whelan attended a Narcotics Anonymous meeting the night before he killed Ms Walsh, the court heard.

He then bought vodka and cider before returning home. He visited his neighbours, who described him as ‘angry’ and ‘unsettled’. Referring to Ms Walsh, he said: ‘I hate the b***h’. He drank a naggin of vodka before leaving.

Ms Walsh returned home 20 minutes after her killer. Two hours later, she rang a friend of Whelan’s, complaining that he was ‘going mad’.

Whelan’s friend advised her to ‘get out of there’. However, the coroner estimated her time of death to be about 40 minutes after the phone call, at 1am.

Detective Sergeant Donal Donoghue told John O’Kelly SC, prosecuting, that he had seen blood on the walls around the bed where Ms Walsh’s body was found.

Whelan later told gardaí: ‘I hit her with a hammer. It’s in the river. She’s dead. I killed her last night.’

The sergeant said that the 30-yearold had first come to Garda attention 18 years ago and had 73 previous convictions.

Ms Walsh’s brother, Raymond Walsh, delivered a victim impact statement. He described her as ‘a loving daughter, mother, sister and auntie’.

Imposing a life sentence, Judge Michael White said that a young woman with four young children had ‘met her death in an horrific way at the hands of Mr Whelan’.