Family 'severely divided' by son's 'brutal' killing of allegedly abusive mother in Dundalk, court hears

A family member of a woman who was "brutally killed" by her son has told the Central Criminal Court that it felt as if the deceased had been the one on trial, while another has said the defendant was "never given a chance" by his "very violent" mother.

One of the defendant's brothers told the court that his sibling had kicked a 62-year-old grandmother to death and stepped on her "lifeless body" as he left her to die. "You wouldn't leave a dog in that state," another brother said.

The actions of Luke Donnelly (29), who told a jury that he "lost all control" and kicked his 62-year-old mother Catherine Henry to death after she threatened to kill him, have "severely divided" his family, the court was told on Wednesday.

Last February, Donnelly was found not guilty of murdering his mother but guilty of manslaughter by a Central Criminal Court jury, after they accepted his defence that he was provoked. The court heard that Ms Henry had taken out a safety order against her son in 2020.

Donnelly had told his trial how he'd been "groomed" into a life of drugs and violence by his allegedly abusive mother. "In my whole life of being attacked and abused I had never defended myself, just waited for it to be over," the defendant told the Central Criminal Court.

Donnelly, of no fixed abode, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter at Ms Henry's apartment on Bridge Street in Dundalk, Co Louth on a date unknown between May 23 and 24, 2023.

The trial heard on the day the case opened that Donnelly accepted he caused multiple fractures to his mother's skull and that he left a blood-stained footprint on her back.

During the case, a pathologist testified that Ms Henry died from severe blunt force trauma to the head and suffered multiple fractures to her skull, including one which may have been caused by "a stomping or kicking type of impact".

In seeking a verdict of manslaughter for his client, Conall MacCarthy SC, defending, had argued that the defendant and his mother had a "complex, sad and disturbing" relationship, and there was evidence of the deceased being prone to "sudden outbursts of violence".

The trial heard that Donnelly had been behaving in "an erratic way" in the months before the killing, including by repeatedly asserting that he was 'Jesus Christ'.

In his evidence, Donnelly, who agreed he had "loaded up" on a cocktail of drugs in the hours before the killing, recalled his mother coming into the bedroom of her apartment on May 23, 2023 and asking for his key back.

Donnelly said he told her he was the son of God and couldn't take the "controlling abuse" anymore. The defendant said his mother screamed in his face that she would kill him if he left.

The defendant said he closed his eyes and "waited for it to be over" as his mother lunged at him. "I didn't know whether it was punches or a weapon but I could feel my head and arms being hit".

At that moment, Donnelly said he was in fear for his life, snapped and threw a punch, which connected with Ms Henry and spun her around. "I lost all control and proceeded to stomp, it all happened in a moment," he said, adding that he believed his mother was going to kill him.

WEDNESDAY’S SENTENCE HEARING

At Wednesday’s sentence hearing, Garret Baker SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said like any family there were "ups and downs" but that there was a complex dynamic in this case. He said there was a divergence of views as to how members of the family got along with their mother.

The court heard that Donnelly has four previous convictions, which include an offence of threatening and abusive behaviour under the public order act and three offences under the misuse of drugs, which date back to 2014.

Mr Baker told Mr Justice Paul McDermott that the Director of Public Prosecution places the offence in the high culpability range, meriting a sentence of between 10 and 15 years. He noted the defendant had left the scene and failed to seek medical assistance, as well as the level of violence inflicted and the fact that the killing had occurred in breach of a safety order, which the deceased had taken out against her son in 2020.

At the outset of his submissions to the court, Mr MacCarthy said two of the defendant's sisters wanted to read their own victim impact statements to the court, which the judge agreed to.

Kathleen Donnelly began her statement by saying her younger brother Luke was never given a chance to make something of his life growing up as he was always under his mother's control. "He was groomed by our mother and [a] fugitive criminal. She was not a nice person to be around, the last memory I have of her is her threatening to kill me. She was a very violent mother".

At this point, Mr Justice McDermott said this was not a victim impact statement but a testimonial. After the court rose to read the statements, Mr McCarthy told the judge that he was not pursuing the matter.

In a letter of apology read to the court by his barrister, Donnelly said he wanted to apologise to "the victims" in the case and to the court, as he realises his behaviour affects people on a daily basis. "I was going through a period of mental turmoil but I take full responsibility for what I did... I feel like a completely different person who committed this offence, it feels like a lifetime ago".

In his submissions, Mr McCarthy said the case was a complex and difficult matter related to issues "which no family wished to have transacted and legislated in a court".

He said it was significant that a plea to manslaughter was offered in advance of the trial and "the findings of facts ultimately accorded with that position".

Defence counsel said his client had proceeded along the route to rehabilitation long before any determination in this case by a jury. He suggested that the case falls in the medium culpability range and attracted a headline sentence of between four and 10 years.

Mr McCarthy said a clinical psychologist found that the defendant is autistic and had found unhelpful survival strategies, such as drug addiction, in response to trauma he has undergone including abuse and homelessness.

Mr Justice McDermott remanded Donnelly in custody until June 19, when he will be sentenced.

VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS

In a victim impact statement, the defendant's brother Robert Donnelly said his mother Catherine was "the best", that she gave her family "everything in life" and that what his sibling had taken from his family could never be replaced.

"The past three years have been the hardest of my life, I couldn't accept my brother had done this....He told me outside court he didn't do it and I believed him".

Robert Donnelly said his two sisters and his brother Luke had blamed their mother but there was "no way anyone can blame my mother for this". "She took Luke in because no one wanted anything to do with him because of the way he was treating people".

Robert Donnelly said his mother spoiled all her children and wanted the best for them. He said his mother's death has "nearly killed" him a few times and that a big part of him has died. "I struggle to live without my mother, my mother saved my life so many times, I owe her everything, all the family does".

He said that he felt "everything went in Luke's favour" during the trial and that his mother had "only ever looked after" the defendant.

"My mother is a big loss to me and the world, hearing details as to what happened to her, you wouldn't leave a dog in that state and he didn't even ring or try to get help....he left her there to die, the woman who gave him life....it makes me sick".

Robert said he had to wait a month to bury his mother and he never got to see her face as her injuries were so severe. "I don't know if I will ever forgive my brother for what he has done...I hope Luke takes real responsibility for what he did and the lives he has affected".

In a second statement, the deceased's sister Elizabeth Kenny said when Donnelly's trial began she believed she would be able to let Catherine rest. "Although Luke brutally killed her, it felt like she was on trial".

Ms Kenny said there was a "big lack of remorse" shown and that lies were told at the trial. "She was a deeply loving person with a wonderful sense of humour... she loved her children unconditionally and also adored her grandchildren".

Ms Kenny said she often thinks about how her sister Catherine loved her son and tried to protect him. "The lack of remorse and lies we had to listen to have only deepened our pain".

Another son of Ms Henry's, Jonathan Donnelly, said in his statement that the loss of their "loving" mother has devastated the family.

Jonathan said his mother's life was taken in an extremely violent way by her own son. "What made the tragedy more painful was how he behaved, he strongly and aggressively denied what he had done for almost three years".

"He not only viciously kicked her to death but he is responsible for severely dividing and shattering the sense of safety and trust within our family".

Jonathan said 16 grandchildren have no grandmother because of the defendant. "Catherine made mistakes throughout her life but the person described by him was not an accurate representation of her".

"The media displayed her as something she wasn't through the lies he told under oath..she loved her family deeply".

Jonathan said his mother's life was taken in an act of "selfishness, greed and extreme violence". He said his brother Luke had kicked a 62-year-old grandmother to death and stepped on her lifeless body as he left the scene.

EVIDENCE IN TRIAL

Donnelly's sister, Kathleen Donnelly, told the jury that she was "absolutely terrified" of her mother growing up as she "physically, verbally and emotionally" abused her and her siblings on a daily basis.

Ms Donnelly also told the trial that her brother Luke always went back to their mother, no matter how badly she treated him, and that he "absolutely idolised" her.

In cross-examination, Ms Donnelly recalled her mother "diving" on top of Luke in a bar in Malta and repeatedly punching him. "I never stood up to her, I was terrified of her and everyone was terrified of her growing up," the witness said.

The defendant's father Gerry Donnelly, who had once been married to the deceased, testified that Ms Henry had stabbed him in the arm with a steak knife during an argument around 1999 and that she had also pushed him down the stairs in a separate incident.

Giving evidence in his own defence, Luke Donnelly told his trial that Ms Henry's mental health deteriorated when her second husband died and she became very angry, violent and depressed.

He said Ms Henry would smash things, drink and take a lot of prescription tablets.

Donnelly said when his mother began a relationship with a drug dealer, he was put "out on the street" at 14 years old as he wouldn't move to Portugal with "a drug trafficker".

The defendant said he later moved to Liverpool with his mother and her partner at 16 years old, when he said he was "groomed" into a lifestyle he didn't want. He said he had to sell drugs, extort money from people and was forced into being violent.

He said his mother had run at him with a "massive butcher's knife" in 2020 and tried to stab him.

"In my whole life of being attacked and abused I had never defended myself, just waited for it to be over," Donnelly told the court.

Donnelly said he never held any anger or animosity towards his mother, no matter what she did or how many times she tried to kill him, spit on him or knock him unconscious.

In cross-examination the prosecutor put it to Luke Donnelly that "a 62-year-old unarmed grandmother threatens you and you are in fear of your life?".

"You have to understand it was the person who abused me mentally and physically since I was a child," Donnelly replied.

The barrister asked the defendant whether Ms Henry was "some kind of lethal killing machine". The defendant replied that she was very good and capable of doing unimaginable things.

Donnelly's former girlfriend Stacey Campbell, who had a child with the defendant, said Luke called to her home in Drogheda on the morning before his mother was found dead.

She said that when Ms Henry, who was staying with her at the time, answered the door, Donnelly told her: “I’m Jesus Christ, just let me in.”

Ms Campbell said she immediately contacted gardaí as she was concerned Luke's mental health was deteriorating and wanted him to be “lifted” so he could receive help.

Asked by the prosecution about Donnelly’s behaviour at the time, Ms Campbell said he “wasn’t in a right state of mind for a long, long time”.

“He was just not the same person. It was like he was losing his mind as the weeks went on,” said Ms Campbell. “He was saying he was Jesus.”

Ms Campbell said Ms Henry had cancer and Donnelly said he had cured her.

CCTV footage showed that Donnelly left the house, got a bus to Dundalk and he made his way to his mother's apartment on Bridge Street, where he had been occasionally living. The jury heard that Ms Henry returned to her apartment an hour later around 9.45am on May 23 but was "never seen alive again".