Brutal wake-up call for a f lawed system

PADDY Lyons was a kind, friendly and trusting man. At the age of 90, he loved nothing more than to reminisce about the old days, and never missed Mass.

His should have been enjoying an untroubled old age, but instead he was brutally attacked in his own Waterford home and murdered by Ross Outram. The 28-year-old killer claimed in court he had acted in self-defence when Mr Lyons hit him with a walking stick and a shovel, an unlikely story given the pensioner had limited use of his right arm.

Yesterday, Lyons received a life sentence for the crime, and it also emerged he had 25 previous convictions, including for burglary and assault causing harm.

We do not know when these happened, or the exact nature of them, or what sentences he received, but his young age suggest that at least some are in the recent past.

This forcibly suggests he has no regard for the law, no fear of punishment, and no respect for life.

Clearly, he was never going to change his habits and had decided to continue on the course in life of his own choosing, all the way up to terrorising, beating and murdering a defenceless old man.

Laws exist to keep the public safe from the likes of Outram, but yet again you would have to believe that we have been let down, with the most horrific consequences imaginable for Paddy Lyons.

We must repair this fundamentally flawed system. It might not be of much consolation to Paddy or to the friends who mourn him, but if it saves another elderly man or woman from the savagery of another Ross Outram, that would be a good day’s work.