Garda tells court of finding body of ‘unrecognisable’ widower in home

A GARDA witness has described to a jury the moment she found the body of an elderly widower who had been ‘severely beaten’ to the point where he was ‘unrecognisable’.

Thomas Lorigan, 34, of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his uncle John O’Neill, 79, at St Brendan’s Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare, between January 6 and 7, 2022.

A witness told the murder trial at the Central Criminal Court yesterday that Mr Lorigan told him he had a row with his uncle the night before the body was found.

Mr O’Neill, who lived alone, had run a B&B at his home along with his wife, who died in the summer of 2021. It is the prosecution’s case that he died after an attack by his nephew, who repeatedly kicked him to the head while wearing steel-capped boots.

Garda Louise Keogh told the court she was on duty at 8.06am on January 7 when she got a call to check the welfare of the owner of O’Neill’s B&B because of an altercation the previous night.

The garda said there was no answer at the door but she could see a light in the kitchen. She found a man lying on the ground having gained entry by breaking a window.

‘He was lifeless, severely beaten and there was blood at the top around his head. The man was unrecognisable and there was a broken vase beside his head,’ she said.

Walter Burke told the court Mr Lorigan stayed in his house on January 5 and they had a few drinks the following day. He said the accused left his house at one point on the night of January 6, and when he returned he told him he had ‘a row with somebody’.

Mr Burke said the next morning he began to think the row was more serious and that Mr O’Neill might be hurt and need medical help. He rang the emergency services.

The trial continues today.