Doctor, 29, is jailed for life after he beat his ‘controlling and bullying’ mother, 51, to death with a chisel before telling police he ‘couldn’t take any more’
- Declan O’Neill told police he did not mean to kill his mother during interviews
- But a rubber mask and gloves were found spattered with Anne O’Neill’s blood
- His grandmother said that his ‘mind must have just snapped’ for him to kill
O’Neill (pictured) murdered his mother with a chisel and has been jailed for life
A doctor has been jailed for life after he beat his ‘controlling and bullying mother to death with a chisel before telling police he ‘couldn’t take any more’.
Declan O’Neill, 29, admitted killing 51-year-old Anne O’Neill on October 21, 2017, then told officers ‘he didn’t mean’ to do so.
Mrs O’Neill’s mother and daughter have described her personality as controlling and asked Mr Justice Colton to show mercy on the murderer as they described growing up with no beds and little furniture in the home.
Greg Berry, defending O’Neill, accused the deceased of ‘relentless emotional violence’, Belfast Live reports.
Neighbours woke to O’Neill and his mother arguing as she pleaded ‘leave me alone, Declan’ and shouted ‘somebody help me’ during the row in Finaghy.
Prosecutor Neil Connor told Belfast Crown Court that police found the victim lying face-down at the foot some steps in the garden of her parents’ home.
O’Neill (pictured with his mother) said he was in debt to the tune of thousands because of her
Paramedics pronounced her dead at 7.50am and a post-mortem found she suffered skull fractures and a bleed on the brain.
The court heard how there was ‘copious amounts of blood’ at the scene, where hair and two of the victim’s teeth were also found.
Pathologist Professor Jack Crane said that Mrs O’Neill was hit repeatedly with a heavy blunt object.
He said that the back of her head was hit against tiled steps and her faced thrust at a hard and uneven service which may have been the footpath.
O’Neill (pictured with his mother, Anne) told police he didn’t mean to kill her but they later found a rubber mask with traces of her blood
O’Neill told officers he’d last seen his mother the night before her death but police arrested him on suspicion of murder.
The killer denied his crime until his 14th of 19 interviews. He told officers: ‘I didn’t mean to, I just couldn’t take any more.’
He claimed he was in debt to the tune of thousands because his mother took money off him and said she wanted all of his time and stopped him seeing his partner.
Items stained with his mother’s blood were found, including a rubber face mask, metal chisel, gloves and shoes.
Medical assessments found that O’Neill suffered from a depressive disorder. His grandmother said in a statement that she didn’t believe he planned to kill and his ‘mind must have just snapped’.
The killer’s sister said that he had done wrong but added she bore no anger toward him.
Mr Berry told the court his client was allowed no friends when he was a youngster and said his mother rang him 15 times per shift while he was working as a doctor.