IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A BIRTHDAY BOUQUET ... INSTEAD IT WAS FLOWERS ON ANNE’S GRAVE
Shorthall family anguish as Webster gets life
ANNE Shortall’s family spoke of the impact her death has had on their lives at the Central Criminal Court as 40-year-old Roy Webster was found unanimously guilty of her murder and sentenced to life in jail.
Brief statements from each of Ann’s children - Alanna, Emma and David - were heard before Friday’s sentencing.
In a written statement read to the court by Alanna, David said: ‘On Wednesday I should have been embracing my mother with open arms and saying “happy birthday”. Instead I put flowers on her grave.’
Emma described her mother as her best friend and confidante.
The person she relied most upon was taken away ‘suddenly and violently’.
‘My mother was not meant to die, her life was taken from her. She will never get to see her grandchildren grow up,’ she said.
Henry Leonard, a brother-in-law of Anne, read out a victim impact statement on behalf of her brothers and sisters, Anthony, Percy, Gary, Seppie, Josie, Liz and Eileen.
He said their lives ‘changed forever’ after events on April 3, 2015, and finding out Anne had been ‘ brutally murdered is something that will ring in our heads forever’.
‘Our family has never been the same. Seven weeks later, James, Anne’s brother got so depressed over the events, he took his own life.’
ANNE Shortall’s family should have been celebrating her birthday last Wednesday, instead they put flowers on her grave, her son told the Central Criminal Court on Friday afternoon.
Roy Webster (40) of Ashbree, Ashford, had earlier been found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict of the murder of Anne Shortall (47) at The Murrough near Wicklow town on April 3, 2015. Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Webster beat Anne Shortall to death with a hammer when she threatened to tell his wife about a one-night-stand they had the previous Christmas.
Before sentencing Justice McCarthy heard brief statements by each of Anne’s children, Alanna, Emma and David.
In a written statement read to the court by Alanna, David said: ‘On Wednesday I should have been embracing my mother with open arms and saying “happy birthday”. Instead I put flowers on her grave.’
Emma said she had lost her mam, best friend and confidante. She added: ‘ There is a void in my life that can never be filled.’ Alanna said the person she relied on most was taken away ‘suddenly and violently’.
‘My mother was not meant to die, her life was taken from her. She will never get to see her grandchildren grow up,’ she said.
Anne’s siblings and close family penned a joint statement revealing Anne’s brother James became so depressed by what had happened that he took his own life seven weeks after her brutal murder. ‘Our family will never be the same,’ they said.
Webster’s barrister Brendan Grehan SC then stood up to tell the court that his client wanted to say sorry to all who had been affected, especially the children of Anne Shortall and his own family. He added that while he ‘ bitterly regrets’ what happened, ‘it was never his intention to injure her, much less kill her.’
Webster, who shook his head in disbelief when the verdict was revealed earlier in the day, wept before the judge asked him to stand while he passed sentence.
Justice McCarthy said: ‘As a matter of law there is one penalty only and I imprison you to life.’
As prison officers brought him from court one final time he mouthed ‘sorry’ in the direction of Ms Shortall’s family. His sentence was backdated to April 7, 2015 when he first went into custody.
During the trial, the jury heard that Roy Webster met Anne Shortall at The Forge pub in Wicklow town during a Christmas night out on December 20, 2014. He was drunk and they flirted. ‘I fancy you,’ he said. ‘I fancy you,’ she replied and they kissed. According to statements Webster made to gardaí he went back to her house, they had sex and he fell asleep. He was awoken about 7 a.m. when his best friend called to say his wife Sinead was looking for him.
He went home and lied to Sinead, who was pregnant with their second child, that he had slept on a friend’s couch. He told gardaí he thought that was the end of it and that he would get on with his life.
Webster was a cabinet maker and was described by witnesses as a ‘ happy go lucky’ man and a talented and hard worker. He had his own business, Ashwood Kitchens, and his van, with that name painted on the side and his own name on the front and back, was well known around the town.
The court heard that at that time in late 2014 and early 2015 Anne Shortall, a separated mother of three grown up children, was having money problems. She had not worked for about ten years and her rent allowance had been cut in mid-2014. Her husband, who had previously given her money to help with the upbringing of their three children, had started giving the money directly to their chchildren. At the time of her death, Anne Shortall taShortall owed more than €2,000 in bills and €1,800 in rent arrears. In March, she had been seserved an eviction notice tinotice telling her to be ouout by April 9.
She came up with a plplan to get Roy Webster to give her money. She trtried contacting him vivia a mutual friend on Facebook. She did GGoogle searches for ‘AsAshwood Kitchens’ and by late March she had boboth his mobile and lalandline numbers. A heheavy drinker and a ‘nnight owl’ according to her daughters Emma anand Alanna, she would calcall Webster in the early hours,ho between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. She also texted him. In one of those texts she said: ‘I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I’m pregnant.’
Having gotten Webster’s attention, the pair exchanged
LAST WEDNESDAY, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN EMBRACING MY MOTHER WITH OPEN ARMS AND SAYING ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’. INSTEAD, I PUT FLOWERS ON HER GRAVE
texts and calls and arranged to meet on April 2. Webster called to her home on South Quay in Wicklow town but didn’t go inside. She said she needed Stg£6,500 for an abortion. He told her he wanted proof she was pregnant and they agreed to meet the following day, Good Friday. Anne texted her letting agent, Mary Broe, saying she had the rent arrears and six months’ rent in advance.
On the afternoon of Good Friday Webster texted Anne: ‘meet at the Leitrim,’ meaning the Leitrim Lounge. She replied ‘On my way’ and left her house without her phone or cigarettes. Her daughters would later find that text exchange on her phone and use it to finger Webster as the last person to see their mother.
Webster picked Anne up and drove to The Murrough.
He told gardaí that he asked her for proof of her pregnancy and she said she didn’t have to prove it but she wanted the money. When he told her he didn’t have the money he said she became angry and threatened to tell his wife about the night they spent together. She opened her door and he got out of the van and ran around to her side. He told gardaí that he wanted to reason with her and begged her not to ruin his life but she kept threatening him. He said he felt he was against
a wall and that he could see his life crashing down. ‘She was threatening my family and my livelihood,’ he told gardaí.
He opened the side door of his van and grabbed a hammer, which he used to hit her nine times on the head. He then secured her wrists with duct tape and wrapped more tape around her head. State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy said the tape blocked her nose and mouth so that if the hammer attack did not kill her, the blocked airways would have ensured she did not survive.
Having placed the body in the back of his van Webster drove to Centra in Ashford where he called his wife to find out if she needed anything, then drove home and, with Anne’s body still in his van, he chatted with his wife and her friend Carmel Phibbs. Ms Phibbs made a statement to gardaí in which she said Webster was ‘completely normal’ and only seemed concerned about a small cut on his elbow that he said he got doing a tiling job that day.
He told gardaí he had a cup of coffee, ate dinner, had a glass of wine and fell asleep in front of the television with his wife by his side. He said it was like he ‘ blanked’ the attack from his mind and felt as though he was back in his own skin.
Ms Shortall’s daughters were immediately concerned when they found their mother not at home. They tried calling Webster’s phone shortly after midnight but he told them they had a wrong number. The following day they went to gardaí, who immediately contacted Webster. He told a garda that he had spoken to Ms Shortall on Good Friday but that she got out of his van at the Murrough and walked towards Wicklow town. He said that was the last time he saw her.
The following day he went shopping with his wife and in the evening moved Anne’s body and some bloodied tools to his workshed. The next day, Easter Sunday, he had what he called a ‘pyjama day’. By Tuesday, gardaí who were trawling CCTV footage could find no evidence that Webster had let Anne out of his van as he’d claimed.
Detective Sergeant Fergus O’Brien called out to his house. Sinead invited him in and complained that her husband was being linked to Anne Shortall’s disappearance on social media. Giving evidence on day three of the trial, Det Sgt O’Brien said Sinead then turned her attention to her husband, asking him: ‘Have you anything to say that you are not saying?’ and ‘If you have something to say, speak now.’
When she asked: ‘ Did you hurt her, Roy?’ his head went down and he started to cry. ‘I did. I hit her with a hammer,’ he said. He revealed that her body was in the workshop. ‘Our workshop?’ Mrs Webster asked. ‘Yes,’ he replied. Sinead fell to her knees and, according to Det Sgt O’Brien, she let out a gasp.
Once he had found the body Det Sgt O’Brien arrested Webster, who detailed how he first met and later killed Anne Shortall. Webster’s defence barrister Brendan Grehan SC argued that his client had lost control having been provoked by Ms Shortall. Provocation is a legal defence that reduces murder to manslaughter. Justice McCarthy explained to the jury that if a person who kills does so having been provoked to the point where they have a total loss of self control, the correct verdict should be manslaughter and not murder.
After more than seven hours of deliberations, the jury of seven women and four men found him guilty of murder.
THERE IS A VOID IN MY LIFE THAT CAN NEVER BE FILLED... MY MOTHER WILL NEVER GET TO SEE HER GRANCHILDREN GROW UP