HOTEL KILLER TO GET LIFE
Locke guilty of strangling ex in brutal attack
A JEALOUS monster who strangled his ex-girlfriend in a hotel will be jailed for life after he was convicted of murder yesterday.
Jurors took just 93 minutes to find Eric Locke, 35, guilty of brutally killing mum-of-one Sonia Blount. The psycho strangled the 31-year-old with his hands and a phone charger cable before shoving her T-shirt down her throat. The Central Criminal Court jury rejected his defence of diminished responsibility for the 2014 killing in Tallaght. After he was found guilty, Locke mouthed “I’m sorry” to Sonia’s devastated family.
PSYCHO hotel killer Eric Locke mouthed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” to the family of Sonia Blount after he was found guilty of her murder yesterday.
It took the jury just one hour and 33 minutes to reach a unanimous verdict at Dublin’s Central Criminal Court. Locke, 35, strangled the mother of one with his hands and the cable of her phone charger, and suffocated her by forcing her T-shirt into the back of her mouth with such force that he broke her teeth. He used a fake Facebook profile to lure his ex-girlfriend to at the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght, West Dublin, after she cut contact with him. Locke had pleaded not guilty but admitted causing the 31-year-old’s death on February 16, 2014. The announcement of the verdict resulted in gasps and shouts of “yes” followed by applause in the packed courtroom. Members of Ms Blount’s family and friends hugged each other before leaving the court. Locke had argued he was suffering from a mental disorder and that this diminished his responsibility. The defence, which falls under the Insanity Act, can result in a verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. Mr Justice Michael Moriarty remanded Locke in custody for sentencing on Friday, when he will receive the mandatory life term. The trial heard Locke had met Ms Blount in October 2013 when he began working in the glue factory where she was employed for almost a decade. They began dating but, in Locke’s own words, were never boyfriend and girlfriend – she had previously been in an abusive relationship with a dominating partner. The jury heard they went to a comedy gig in January 2014 but had a row when Ms Blount attracted the attention of other males while out smoking. Locke, from St John’s Park East in Clondalkin, called her a slut and she ended the relationship the following day. The court heard hundreds of text messages that followed between them, in which he begged her for another chance and she pleaded with him to let her alone. He did not but instead left his job and sent her a text message threatening suicide. She eventually blocked him on Facebook and the text messages between them also stopped. He already had a fake Facebook account in the name of Shane Cully. He used the profile to befriend Ms Blount and they began sending messages to each other. They decided to meet for sex in the Plaza Hotel on the night of February 15. She said she was nervous, she had never done anything like that before. Ms Blount checked in at around 9pm and she agreed to have a keycard at reception for him so he wouldn’t have to knock on the door. The jury saw CCTV footage of him arriving at the hotel shortly before midnight, getting the keycard and taking the elevator to the third floor. The rest of the evidence came from what Locke told investigating gardai and three psychiatrists. The accounts varied but, in his last account to officers, he said she was shocked to see him walk through the door. Locke added he had just wanted to talk to her and this is what they had done. He said they had consensual sex. He had told the psychiatrists he had planned to tie her to a chair and force her to listen to an account of his pain. He had brought a pellet gun, masking tape and cable ties to restrain and scare her. Locke said she screamed when she saw these and that he panicked and strangled her. The defendant added she had caused the obvious scratches on his face and had asked what he was doing while he strangled her. The prosecution argued Locke knew well what he was doing was wrong. Prosecutor Remy Farrell said there was evidence of anger and rage, wholly consistent with vengeance and retribution. In his closing speech, he added: “While Eric Locke was strangling the life out of her, she was fighting for her very life.” He said she was making sounds so he put her top into her mouth to silence her. He said he dressed her, put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door and left. The jury saw footage of him dropping his mobile phone in a drain outside the hotel and running from the scene just over five hours after his
While he strangled the life out of her, she was fighting REMY FARRELL IN CLOSING STATEMENT
There were scrapes, fingernail scrapes. They were noticeable IAN MCEVOY ON MAN IN HIS TAXI
arrival. Taxi driver Ian Mcevoy earlier told the trial he collected a passenger near the hotel between 5.30am and 6am that day. He was going to Clondalkin village. The driver asked him had he had a good night. Mr Mcevoy added: “He said, ‘I won’t be going there again’. He said he was in the nightclub and had been in a row. Mr Mcevoy said he noticed marks on his cheek. The driver added: “I said, ‘Give us a look at your face’, and he turned around and there were scrapes, fingernail scrapes. They were very noticeable.” Locke claimed he made two suicide attempts afterwards but couldn’t go through with it due to vivid thoughts of his family. He handed himself into gardai that evening.