Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Killer mum caged for 3yrs
Court told killer no longer a threat
A MOTHER of two was jailed for three years yesterday over the “horrific” killing of a pensioner.
Margaret Henderson-mccarroll, 31, admitted the manslaughter of 67-yearold Eddie Girvan at his home in Greenisland, Co Antrim, in January last year.
Passing sentence yesterday at Belfast Crown Court, Mr Justice Treacy said she would serve a further three years on licence.
He added he agreed with two forensic psychologists that the killer did not pose a “significant risk of serious harm to the public in the future”.
The judge told the court: “This was an horrific crime and the deceased must have suffered terribly.”
Prosecutors accepted her guilty plea on grounds of “diminished responsibilty”. Her defence had argued Hendersonmccarroll was high on a cocktail of heroin and crystal meth.
A sentence hearing in June was told her life had descended into a “heroin hell” following the cot death of her infant daughter.
Mr Justice Treacy told the court that Henderson-mccarroll had known Mr Girvan for a number of years and she received “money for sex with him”.
He went on: “Police received a report of a road traffic accident in Belfast on the morning of January 18,
2016, involving a Hyundai car which was registered to
Mr Girvan.
“Police called at his home but got no answer. Separately, on the Lisburn Road area, police arrested you [Hendersonmccarroll] over an unrelated matter.
“You were taken to Musgrave police station. Items were discovered in your possession which included a satellite navigation system and a key belonging to a Hyundai car. When police checked the sat nav system it showed the home address of 162 Station Road, which was Mr Girvan’s home.”
After revealing police forced their way into the house, the judge added: “There they found his body, gagged and seated in a room on the ground floor.
“Photographs taken at the time showed clearly where he was and the state he was in.”
Mr Justice Treacy said the victim suffered two stab wounds – one was to the chest which had “punctured his lung causing high bleeding into the lung” and “could have resulted in death”.
The second stab injury was to the lower right part of his chest but “caused no vital damage”.
Mr Justice Treacy said: “Neither stab would have required any great force. The deceased had a large wad of kitchen roll stuffed into his mouth and he had been gagged with a tie. This too, of itself, could have resulted in death.”
Mr Justice Treacy said Hendersonmccarroll had 100 previous criminal convictions which included offences of robbery, theft and assault.
In a number of these attacks, she had bitten, punched and headbutted some of her victims who included children, elderly men, young women and adult men.
A consultant forensic psychiatrist, who had examined the defendant, said in a report to the court she had an addiction history to opiates and stimulants which had led to a “chaotic life”.
It read: “It is evident her abuse of illicit drugs intensified following the death of her infant daughter which led to a subsequent significant deterioration in her mental health and social functioning.
“She also exhibits traits of an emotionally unstable personality disorder due to the background of violence and sexual abuse at the hands of male partners.”