Saturday, November 20, 2004

From England, a Parent's Rage

Once again, a family is sentenced to a lifetime of pain and an Ecstasy murderer will be out of prison in a few years. What sadness! What a crime!

You murderer you took my lovely son
A 17-year-old Ewell boy convicted of killing teenager Michael O'Connor faced a torrent of rage from the victim's distraught father after he was told he could be free in less than eight years.

The youth who cannot be named for legal reasons stood just metres away from Mr O'Connor who has the same name as his son as he was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey last Friday (November 12). Judge Richard Hawkins QC told the youth who admitted stabbing the teenager while high on ecstasy in Cheam Broadway on May 1 he could be eligible for parole after serving seven-and-a-half years.

Mr O'Connor screamed at his son's killer and was restrained in the court room after he leapt towards the dock shouting: "You murderer. You took my lovely son." He was held on the floor by officers while the public gallery was cleared and the youth taken away to begin his sentence.

... The court had heard in October how the youth had disliked taking ecstasy in the past as it had made him hyperactive and violent. In noting that the youth had taken an ecstasy tablet prior to the stabbing of Mr O'Connor, Judge Hawkins added: "Your mistake was plainly due to the drug you took."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

R.I.P Micheal (Pleaser) - Miss you boy! You never deserved that to happen to you. See you again one day.. Love Navie