The parents of a murdered Cavan man have made an impassioned plea for reform in the Irish justice system.
Helena and Gerry O’Connor appeared on RTE’s Prime Time on Monday night to discuss the loss of their 22-year-son Gavin, who was brutally murdered near Carrickmacross in 2011.
Musician Gavin was sleeping in his car following a music festival in the town when 22-year-old Conor McClelland happened upon the vehicle and, as he was in need of a lift home, drove it away from the scene. A trial heard that Mr McClelland subsequently worried about his fingerprints being on the car and called his friend on the phone, telling him ‘if he wakes up, I’ll have to hit him with a rock’.
It is understood that Mr McClelland later assaulted Gavin O’Connor, hitting him in the head with four rocks that he found in a nearby ditch before running him over with the car to make it appear as a hit and run incident.
Mr and Mrs O’Connor told the programme that the assault had been so brutal that they and Gavin’s girlfriend Aoife found it difficult to look at him in his hospital bed.
“They asked us would we like to see Gavin and we said yes. They said ‘well he’s not a pretty sight at the moment. Because of the extent of his injuries, blood is running out of his eyes, his nose, his mouth and his ears. Myself, Gerry and Aoife went to the door, the nurse pushed it open and when we seen the state of Gavin’s face, we turned back,” explained Helena, before breaking down.
“We tried a second time and we turned back. On the third attempt, we went in and Gavin’s face was a total and utter mess. But it was Gavin and we knew it was Gavin so we talked to him and we hugged him and we kissed him.”
Gavin later died from his injuries and Mr McClelland was found guilty of murder, for which he received a life sentence. However, Helena noted that he is only likely to serve a sentence of less than 20 years while they “can’t see a future” following their son’s death.
“We were very pleased that he was found guilty of murder. It doesn’t take away our life sentence and to me, life should mean life. Conor McClelland will walk out of that prison in an average of 17.2 years. That’s life. He has already served three. He will walk out of that prison young enough to carry on with his life. Myself and Gerry will bring this to the grave with us,” she said.
“If there’s anything to be done with the justice system in this country, will you please do it! Right, our prisons are full but you have people in there for not paying their TV license and stupid things; for being on the runway at Shannon or whatever, lock up the people that should be locked up. The people with the convictions.”
Gerry O’Connor also explained the devastating impact that the loss of Gavin had on the family, saying “I’ll be sick forever more”.
“I’m haunted with the visions of this fella yielding them rocks on top of my Gavin’s head. That’s the visions that I’m left with that are haunting me, first thing in the morning and last thing at night.”
In a tragic turn of events, the couple lost their second son Patrick in a road accident last November and revealed that they had decided to do the interview in order to make sure no other family went through the same ordeal.
“I’d like to say to the people of Ireland and further afield to tell their children, no matter how young or how old they are, that they love them every day. And I’d like to say to the young people of Ireland that’s driving the roads, not to send the message home to their parents that we got: ‘Unfortunately Mr and Mrs O’Connor, your son wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. If this programme saves one person from being murdered or one person from being killed on the road, it’ll be worth it. It’ll be worth it.”
Watch the full heartbreaking interview here.
