A 42-year-old Louth woman has been handed down a life sentence after being found guilty of murdering her partner during a physical fight last year.
Paula Farrell with an address at Rathmullen Park, Drogheda, Co Louth was charged with murdering Wayne McQuillan (30) on January 1st, 2014.
On June 22 2015 at the Central Criminal Court, Ms Farrell pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr McQuillan but after a period of three hours 27 minutes deliberating a jury of four men and seven women brought in a unanimous verdict of guilty.
Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy told the members of the jury they were exempt from jury service for the next 10 years.
The sister of the deceased, Audrey McQuillan, read out a victim impact report on behalf of her parents Bernie and Jim, telling the court it will haunt them forever to think their son was killed by someone who should have loved and protected him as they had.
“It pains us therefore to think that as Wayne progressed in life and formed new relationships, relationships we had hoped would be caring and loving, that it was in fact one of these relationships that would lead to his death,” said Ms McQuillan.
She then told the court when Farrell killed her brother, she killed a part of her family too. “We cannot forgive her for the terrible pain and suffering she has inflicted on us. Our lives will never be the same again, we can never be together as a family again and this breaks our heart.”
At the opening of the trial four weeks ago, the court heard Farrell and Mr McQuillan, who was known as “Quilly”, had been in a relationship for a year and he was 10 years younger than her.
In his opening speech, Prosecution Counsel Mr Gerard Clarke SC told the jury that in the early hours of January 1st, 2014, Farrell killed the deceased by stabbing him four times with a “large kitchen knife.”
Mr Clarke said the couple regularly “overindulged” in drink and particularly on this night in question, before an argument broke out between the pair at Farrell’s home. “Ms Farrell took a large kitchen knife from a large block of knives and stabbed Mr McQuillan four times and one stab was fatal,” said Mr Clarke.