Elderly people in our town are now living with fear after what happened to our father John
THE niece of a 78-year-old widower, who was kicked and stamped to death by his own nephew, has said her family have experienced a raw, pervasive fear ‘stemming from the chilling reality of evil so close to home’.
The Central Criminal Court also heard yesterday that elderly people in the Co. Clare town of Lisdoonvarna ‘now have the same fear and suffer the same trauma’ and are worried something similar could happen to them.
Niamh Higgins, whose uncle was beaten by Thomas Lorigan, 34, to the point where he was ‘unrecognisable’, told the court the ‘cruel loss’ of John O’Neill to this ‘heinous murder has plunged us into a whirlwind of raw feelings’.
‘Feelings we find ourselves wholly unprepared for – overwhelming grief, despair, trauma, including a pervasive fear stemming from the chilling reality of evil so close to home,’ she added. She said to think of the injuries ‘being inflicted by a stranger’ would be ‘horrendous’, but knowing it was a family member is ‘beyond torture’.
Ms Higgins, the daughter of Mr O’Neill’s last remaining sibling, Marie Kellett, said the murder of her uncle had left ‘a hollowness’ in their lives ‘that words struggle to fill’ and that he was ‘more than just a statistic of crime’. ‘He was the core of our family, a dear friend and the soul of the community in Lisdoonvarna. His “grá” for life was infectious,’ she added.
She continued: ‘John’s great love and sense of caring for all his sisters throughout his life was commendable. He was there for them and their families, regardless of the ask or cost to himself.’
The trial heard that Mr O’Neill, who lived alone after his wife died in 2021, had regularly helped his sister Geraldine and provided financial assistance when she split up with her husband. When Geraldine died, Mr O’Neill acted as a guardian for her three children, including his killer Lorigan, who was 12 or 13 years old at the time.
During the trial, the court viewed CCTV footage of the attack, where an assailant the jury accepted was Lorigan could be seen delivering measured kicks to Mr O’Neill and stamps to the head and neck.
Lorigan was wearing steelsion, capped boots at the time.
Following the ‘vicious assault’ Mr O’Neill was left on the road outside his house for 40 seconds before being dragged by his jumper by Lorigan under the archway and into his kitchen.
Ms Higgins said: ‘The CCTV evidence plays like a constant loop in our minds, capturing the inhumane, cold-hearted attack.
‘Fast-forwarding us to a world of nightmares and anguish over the events that took place and why such a tragedy happened to someone so undeserving. Our whole family would like to know why you would do this to John. The fact that John was killed in the family home where four generations have happily lived till now, amplifies the impact for us all.’
A second victim impact statement was read to the court by Mr O’Neill’s eldest son, Sean O’Neill, who said: ‘Seeing the look of fear in people’s eyes and faces at how our dad was killed has been harrowing. We now all double-check that our doors are locked, to keep us safe. I know from speaking to locals in Lisdoonvarna, the elderly people in the area have the same fear and suffer the same trauma, worried what happened to our dad could happen to them.’
Mr O’Neill’s youngest son Graham told the court: ‘No one in their wildest nightmares would fear his life would end like this. We fear it could happen again; there has been no remorse, no admisno guilty plea. A sorrow hangs over us, we try to push those awful images from our minds, we fear the day this person walks free.’ Earlier this month, Lorigan, of no fixed abode, was found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict of murdering his uncle Mr O’Neill at St Brendan’s Road, Lisdoonvarna, on a date unknown between January 6 and 7, 2022. He had pleaded not guilty. There was no known motive for the murder but State prosecutors submitted the fact that there was no robbery and family photos were found smashed, suggested the killing was ‘something personal’.
Lorigan was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment. Judge Paul McDermott said he could only express his sympathy to Mr O’Neill’s family for the suffering they have endured and continue to endure.
Commenting outside court yesterday, Ronan Connolly, the family’s solicitor and a friend of Mr O’Neill’s, described the victim, known as Jack, as ‘probably the unofficial king of north Clare and Lisdoonvarna’.
Mr Connolly said yesterday marked the end of a terrible ordeal for the O’Neill family.
‘He was the soul of the community’ ‘There has been no remorse’